David Anthony Burke, better known as d4vd, was born on March 28, 2005. He began making music at the age of 17. Before d4vd’s music career set off, he was an online gamer. Oftentimes, he would use popular songs as background music in his gameplay montages. He continued this until he fell afoul of YouTube’s copyright laws. As a solution, d4vd began creating his own music. At first, d4vd didn’t have a studio, so he produced music in his sister’s closet. Only one year later, he released his first chart hit, “romantic homicide”, an alternative song that almost immediately went viral. At only 18 years old, d4vd was featured on the Call of Duty soundtrack, collaborated with The Kid Laroi, and opened for SZA on the very same tour he had attended himself before he blew up.
D4vd’s life took a completely unexpected turn in only a few years. He went from dreaming of being a professional gamer to having over 1.5 billion streams for his music on Spotify. D4vd has since released 31 singles, 2 EPs, and 1 studio album, “Withered.” Beginning in early August, d4vd has been on a national tour to promote the album. Although he only performed 21 shows before he canceled his remaining tour dates.
The teenage sensation’s career had skyrocketed, but due to recent events, it seems to be going downhill for d4vd. On September 8, 2025, a body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to d4vd. The car had been abandoned in a Hollywood impound for the previous five days. The police discovered the body after a “foul odor coming from the vehicle” was reported.
At first, d4vd continued touring while still cooperating with the police, but after the body was identified, he canceled the tour. The body belonged to missing teen, Celeste Rivas. Rivas went missing when she was 13 and was found mangled in the front trunk of d4vd’s car at age 15.
When the case first began getting investigated, d4vd seemed to be innocent, but as more details of the case came out, people started to question the singer’s innocence. Once the identity of the body was discovered, speculation of d4vd’s relation to the girl started to arise. According to Rivas’s mother, Celeste had a boyfriend named David at the time she went missing. Another clue hinting at d4vd’s relation to Celeste is his “Shhh” tattoo, identical to the tattoo Celeste had on her right index finger. Backtracking to December of 2023, the same year Rivas went missing, an unreleased d4vd song was leaked referencing a girl named Celeste. In the song, d4vd sings the lyrics, “Oh Celeste, the girl with my name tattooed on her chest.” How is it that d4vd had connections to the missing teen while her parents questioned whether or not she was even alive?
Even as the case continues to unfold, things are not looking good for d4vd. He went from getting attention for his music to getting attention for suspected murder. We are yet to find out if d4vd killed Celeste Rivas, but he has fans questioning lyrics to songs released years ago. Did the song that once made d4vd famous secretly reveal the truth behind the whole case? Did d4vd actually commit a romantic homicide?
