A Los Angeles homicide detective has reportedly revealed in a new court document that the investigation into how 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez ended up dead in the trunk Singer D4vd's Tesla is a full-scale murder investigation.
Los Angeles Police Detective. Joshua Byers characterized the case as a “murder investigation” as he sought a court order barring the release of Rivas' autopsy results, a now-secret application filed Friday and received Los Angeles Times allegedly said. Byers argued that public release of details of Rivas' death could jeopardize the murder investigation and should be protected. Times reported.
A judge ultimately granted the request and ordered the Los Angeles County medical examiner's findings suppressed, the Department of Health's office confirmed. statement released on Monday. LAPD previously said he was awaiting an official ruling on Rivas' cause of death, and in the meantime it remained “unclear whether there was any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body.”
Last week, sources said NBC News And ABC7 What D4vd Now considered a suspect in the death of Rivas. The musician, born David Anthony Burke, was out of state on a national tour when his battered 2023 Tesla Model Y was towed Sept. 5 from the affluent Bird Street neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills. The towing yard called police, saying the impounded vehicle was “emitting a foul odor and attracting flies,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Rolling Stone. This was reported by sources in the area where the Tesla was last parked. Rolling Stone The sedan sat in its last spot on Bluebird Avenue for at least three weeks before it was towed.
For two months, investigators remained silent about their investigation, fueling speculation. On Monday, an LAPD spokesman took the rare step of denying reports that were published on TMZ.com over the weekend.
“They report that Celeste's body was frozen when it was discovered, but that is not true,” Scott M. Williams, captain of the LAPD's Homicide and Robbery Division, told KNX News. “Celeste was not beheaded,” he continued, calling the report also “factually inaccurate.”
When investigators opened the trunk on Sept. 8, they found the girl's decomposed remains in a black trash bag. Rivas, who would have turned 15 the day before she was discovered, was later identified as a missing teenager from Lake Elsinore, a city about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Rivas was reported missing by relatives in February 2024 and then again two months later in April 2024, according to online flyers.
In his court filing, Byers reportedly said that public release of Rivas' autopsy report “would reveal or contribute to the disclosure of the ongoing investigation and its integrity, as well as the identity of witnesses and/or informants who are cooperating with law enforcement and the contents of the information they provide, which could endanger the lives of witnesses and/or compromise the investigation.” The judge ordered Byers' statement and the court order to be “sealed and kept in a secure place under the custody of the court clerk until further order of the court.” Times reported.
Over the weekend, the investigation into Rivas' death disappeared from the medical examiner's website. In a statement Monday, the DOE's office said it received the court order at 10:54 a.m. Friday after it was “initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department.” It said the order placed a “security hold” on Rivas' case, meaning that “no records or details related to this case, including the cause and manner of death and the medical examiner's report, can be released or posted on the website until further notice.” The agency's chief medical examiner, Dr. Odey Ukpo, made it clear that he was unhappy with the judge's decision.
“The department's mission is to provide full transparency to the public by providing information about our cases to empower people to make changes that save lives,” Dr. Ukpo said in a prepared statement. “Since I became department head, I have worked to eliminate the practice of seizing forensic cases simply at the request of law enforcement. The practice of seizures is virtually unheard of in other counties and has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system. We are committed to serving our community with full transparency; however, the law does not allow us to do so while a court order remains in the case.”
The DOH office said the LAPD had previously requested an arrest on Sept. 15, 2025, “which was denied due to insufficient grounds for such an arrest.” The department said it “understands the public's interest in this case and remains committed to transparency whenever possible” and “information will be available once the court's order is vacated.”
Rivas' mother previously said TMZ that her daughter was dating someone named “David” before her disappearance. Photos posted online by people who have followed Burke's career show him with a girl who closely resembles Celeste. In another twist, Celeste had a tattoo on her right index finger that said “Shh…” the medical examiner said. A Getty Images photo shows Burke with a similar tattoo.
Burke's criminal defense attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Rolling Stone.
