An American rapper on the rise, officially charged with the murder of a teenage girl. He faces capital punishment
D4vd, a young rap singer on the rise in the US, was formally charged on Monday with the murder of an American teenager whose decomposing body was found in the trunk of a Tesla car registered in his name in Los Angeles, reports AFP.
The 21-year-old rapper faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or even the death penalty, said Los Angeles City Attorney Nathan Hochman. The charge of murder is accompanied by aggravating circumstances such as “repeated sexual acts, obscene and lewd sexual acts with a person under the age of 14, as well as mutilation of a corpse.”
The body of the victim, a teenage girl named Celeste Rivas, was found dismembered and in a state of decomposition in the trunk of a Tesla owned by rapper D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) on September 8, 2025.
The teenager had been reported missing for several months. Originally from Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles, she had been missing since she was 13 years old.
The police discovered the body after they intervened in a car park in Hollywood, at the call of some employees and neighbors who complained of an unbearable smell coming from a car.
According to investigators, the car was parked for almost a month in a luxury district of the city, not far from a Tesla restaurant recently opened by Elon Musk, before being towed to the car park.
The horrific crime sparked a lot of interest in the United States, especially since D4vd's music had become known.
The youngster rose to fame in 2022 after his song 'Romantic Homicide' became a smash hit on TikTok.
