From TikTok Dreams to Nightmare Reality: D4vd’s “Romantic Homicide” Haunts as Teen’s Dismembered Remains Link Singer to Gruesome Murder Cover-Up

HOLLYWOOD — The intoxicating glow of Gen Z stardom has curdled into a macabre horror story, as rising singer D4vd finds himself at the epicenter of a chilling investigation into the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. What began as innocent Discord chats between a homeschooled Houston teen and a starry-eyed Lake Elsinore girl has unraveled into a tale of obsession, betrayal, and brutality—capped by the gruesome discovery of Celeste’s dismembered, fly-infested remains in the trunk of D4vd’s impounded Tesla on September 8. Leaked messages, alleged family payoffs, and a half-brother’s tearful confession to LAPD have peeled back layers of deception, transforming D4vd’s 2022 hit “Romantic Homicide” from a viral breakup anthem into an eerie prophecy that has fans reeling and prosecutors circling.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was the epitome of youthful promise in the sun-baked suburbs of Lake Elsinore, a Riverside County enclave 76 miles east of Hollywood’s haze. At 13, the seventh-grader with curly dark hair and a penchant for Hello Kitty dreamed of escaping her fractured home life—marked by multiple runaway episodes since Valentine’s Day 2024. Her family reported her missing three times that year, including a final vanishing on April 5, when she slipped out at 9 p.m. in gray pants, a black sweater, a hat, and those signature sandals. Friends described her as “sweet, with stars in her eyes,” a girl who devoured TikTok videos of indie-pop sensations like D4vd, whose emotive tracks about love’s dark underbelly resonated with her budding romantic fantasies.

David Anthony Burke, the 20-year-old behind the D4vd moniker, was no stranger to such digital reveries. Born March 28, 2005, in Queens, New York, and raised in Houston after his family relocated, Burke traded Fortnite gaming montages for music in 2021. Homeschooled and isolated, he crafted lo-fi R&B-pop on a school laptop, inspired by XXXTentacion and indie darlings. His pivot paid off spectacularly: “Romantic Homicide,” released July 2022, exploded on TikTok, amassing nearly 200 million YouTube views with its raw lyrics—”I don’t mean to be complacent with the decisions you made / But I can’t stay here just to rot”—and a music video depicting a blindfolded Burke at a blood-splattered funeral. The song, which Burke told Genius symbolized metaphorically “killing” a toxic relationship (“I didn’t kill her physically, but in the back of my mind she died”), debuted at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100, landing him deals with Darkroom and Interscope Records.

By early 2025, D4vd was a phenomenon: His debut album Withered dropped in April, blending emo-pop introspection with genre-bending flair. A Coachella backflip face-plant went viral, endearing him further, and the Withered World Tour sold out arenas from Paris to L.A. But beneath the stage lights, darker currents swirled. Leaked Discord logs, obtained by TMZ and verified by digital forensics experts, reveal Burke first messaged Celeste in late 2021, when she was just 11. Posing as a “fellow Fortnite fan,” the then-16-year-old singer groomed her over years, escalating from gaming banter to intimate confessions. “You’re my muse, Celeste—let’s make our own story,” he wrote in one 2023 exchange, mere months after “Romantic Homicide” topped charts.

By summer 2023, Celeste’s infatuation bloomed into secrecy: Hidden Snapchat photos show her flashing a silver promise ring engraved “Shh,” a nod to D4vd’s whispered lyrics, and matching “Shh” finger tattoos inked during a clandestine Houston meetup. Friends say she ran away twice to L.A. in 2024, returning dazed and evasive, sporting designer threads and bruises she dismissed as “tour mishaps.” A former science teacher at Lakeland Village School told KTLA Celeste bragged about her “boyfriend David,” a 17-year age gap that raised red flags but yielded no action amid overburdened child services.

The fairy tale shattered in April 2024. Celeste’s final disappearance coincided with D4vd’s L.A. tour stop. Leaked iMessages, subpoenaed by LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division, depict a frantic exchange: “Come to the show, baby—our secret forever,” Burke urged. She arrived at his Hollywood Hills rental, a sleek Airbnb north of Sunset Boulevard. What transpired inside remains a forensic puzzle, but half-brother Matthew Hernandez, 17, broke the silence in a September 20 LAPD interview, tears streaming as he recounted “home hell.” Living with their mother, Maria Rivas, and stepfather in Lake Elsinore, Matthew described Celeste’s obsession: “She’d sneak out for him, come back changed—scared but glowing.” After her vanishing, he said, Maria received a $10,000 check from an anonymous “David B.” trust, funneled through Cash App, with a note: “For silence and memories.” Friends, too, were allegedly silenced—two high schoolers admitted to detectives receiving $2,000 Venmo payments to “forget Celeste’s stories.”

Matthew’s takedown proved pivotal. Overwhelmed by guilt, he tipped off authorities after spotting D4vd’s Tesla—a matte-black Model S, registered in Hempstead, Texas—towed from Hollywood streets on September 6 for unpaid tickets. Impounded at Hollywood Tow Service yard, the vehicle sat for two days until a rancid stench—described by workers as “like rotten meat in summer heat”—wafted from the front trunk on September 8. LAPD arrived midday, unzipping a Hefty bag to reveal Celeste’s partial remains: Severely decomposed, dismembered at the torso and limbs, crawling with maggots. Luminol tests later lit up Burke’s rental like a crime scene—blood traces in drains, on tile grout, and a discarded hacksaw under the sink. Forensic entomologists peg time of death to late April 2024, aligning with her disappearance.

Enter Caleb Ruiz, Celeste’s 19-year-old brother from her father’s side—a betrayal that cuts deepest. Once D4vd’s tour “hype man” via mutual TikTok circles, Caleb turned state’s evidence September 22, spilling to LAPD the “fatal frenzy.” In a recorded statement, he detailed witnessing a April 2024 argument at the rental: “She confronted him about the ring, the lies—said she wanted out. He snapped, screaming ‘You died in my mind already!’—echoing his song.” Caleb claimed Burke strangled her in a rage, then dismembered the body with kitchen tools while blasting “Romantic Homicide” on loop. “He bagged her like trash, drove to the impound lot later to ditch it—thought it’d blend with towed cars,” Caleb confessed, his voice cracking. Motive? Sources whisper jealousy-fueled possession, amplified by Burke’s paranoia over Celeste’s threats to expose their affair amid his rising fame.

The scandal has obliterated D4vd’s empire. Interscope halted Withered deluxe promotions; the world tour’s remaining dates— including a sold-out Staples Center finale—canceled overnight, stranding fans and costing millions. Spotify streams of “Romantic Homicide” surged 300%, but at a cost: Petitions with 1.2 million signatures demand its removal, branding it a “confession track.” A leaked demo, “Celeste (Whispers in the Dark),” surfaced September 24—lyrics musing “Stars fade in your eyes, now just echoes in the trunk”—fanning conspiracy flames. Burke, holed up in Houston, issued a statement via reps: “Devastated by this tragedy. Fully cooperating; innocence presumed.” No charges yet, but DA George Gascón’s office hints at grooming, manslaughter, and evidence tampering indictments by October.

Celeste’s loved ones reel in Lake Elsinore, where a September 21 vigil drew 200 mourners—candles flickering beside her photos, posters reading “Justice for Our Dreamer.” Maria Rivas, facing fraud probes over the payoffs, broke silence in a Today show exclusive: “I took the money to survive, not to bury my baby. He preyed on her innocence.” Half-brother Matthew, now in protective custody, added: “She wanted his world; it swallowed her whole.”

As LAPD raids yield electronics laced with deleted chats and bloody selfies, one question haunts: Was fame the killer, or something colder— a star’s unchecked ego devouring a fan’s adoration? In an era of parasocial peril, Celeste’s story is a siren: Digital whispers can curdle into screams. Her remains, released September 24, head home for burial, but the echoes of “Romantic Homicide”—once a heartbreak hymn—now toll like a funeral dirge for a legacy in ruins. Hollywood’s glamour dims; the spotlight reveals only shadows.