The family of Celeste Rivas said they are in support of singer D4vd facing the death penalty as he prepares to stand trial accused of her murder.
“If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being, devoid of feelings and emptiness inside, and without conscience, who only caused pain to our daughter, our family, and the world that supports our precious daughter,” Rivas’ family said in a Sunday, September 6, statement to The California Post, issued one day before what would have been Rivas’ 16th birthday.
The statement added, “But that’s not in our hands, but rather in God’s, and the California justice system.”
D4vd — real name David Anthony Burke — was arrested in April and charged with one count of murder in connection with Rivas’ death, as well as one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and one count of unlawful mutilation of human remains.
The body of 14-year-old Rivas was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer in September 2025.
During an arraignment hearing on August 31, D4vd pleaded not guilty to murder. At the time, the singer also changed his legal team, replacing high-profile celebrity lawyers Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter with a public defender.
“This morning, the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appoint the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel,” Berk, Bednarski and Peter said in a statement, per Rolling Stone. “We continue to support David and his defense against these serious charges. We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office had taken over the representation and that David has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him.”
In its case against D4vd, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleged that the singer killed Rivas on April 23, 2025, one day after they had a “lengthy argument” over text messages.
The prosecution alleged that D4vd stabbed Rivas to death in the garage of his Hollywood Hills home before using a chainsaw and other objects to dismember her body.
Prosecutors argued that he “amputated her left ring and pinky fingers because her ring finger contained a tattoo of his name. Her fingers have not been recovered. Defendant then placed her head and torso into the cadaver bag he purchased. He placed her limbs into a garbage bag, which he deposited into his front trunk, laying the cadaver bag on top. For several weeks, or possibly months, defendant left the victim’s body to decompose inside his Tesla.”
At the time of his April arrest, D4vd’s former legal team denied the singer was involved in Rivas’ death.
“Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” the singer’s attorneys told TMZ.
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