Celeste Rivas Hernandez's parents are suing singer D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) for wrongful death after he was charged in the 14-year-old girl's murder. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also names Burke's mother and managers as defendants, accusing them of negligence. Text messages presented at a previous hearing showed that Burke had a relationship with Celeste, who got pregnant and had an abortion, and that he used his position to control her. The suit claims Burke engaged in human trafficking by causing Celeste to engage in commercial sex acts, which is alleged to have occurred between the time she was 13 and her death at age 14.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 7876: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-11
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s parents are suing the singer D4vd, accusing him of wrongful death after he was charged in the 14-year-old girl’s murder.
asserted
he → sue → murder
Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas are also suing D4vd’s mother and managers, accusing them of negligence.
asserted
Martinez → sue → negligence
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, outlines much of the evidence presented at a multiday evidentiary hearing in July about the pair’s relationship, which prosecutors said began when Celeste was 13 and ended after she threatened to expose him.
asserted
she → file → him
Text messages revealed at the hearing showed that she had gotten pregnant by Burke and had an abortion.
asserted
she → reveal → abortion
Her decomposed and dismembered remains were found in September 2025 in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla at a Los Angeles impound lot.
asserted
remains → decompose → lot
Prosecutors said the car had been left on a street near his home and impounded at Hollywood Tow after someone reported an abandoned vehicle.
asserted
someone → say → vehicle
Burke, 21, was arrested in April at a house in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, Los Angeles police said.
asserted
police → arrest → neighborhood
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
asserted
He → plead → remains
He remains in custody awaiting trial.
asserted
He → remain → trial
The lawsuit accuses Burke of using his position of authority to “influence and control” Celeste, “including by providing her a concealed cellular telephone to maintain contact outside her parents’ knowledge, using false identities, and arranging and paying for her travel.”
The suit says that on the night she died in April 2025, Burke sent an Uber vehicle to pick her up from her family’s home in Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.
asserted
Burke → accuse → County
After she arrived at his home in the Hollywood Hills, Burke stabbed her, prosecutors allege.
asserted
prosecutors → arrive → her
Prosecutors said he used chain saws to cut her body apart in his garage.
asserted
he → say → garage
Celeste’s parents say in the lawsuit that because of the decomposition, they had to wait more than a week after her remains were found for an identification and that some parts of the body were never recovered.
asserted
parts → say → body
The suit accuses Burke of wrongful death, as well as battery, sexual battery, childhood sexual assault, assault, false imprisonment, human trafficking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
asserted
suit → accuse → distress
It also alleges that Burke engaged in human trafficking by causing or inducing Celeste “to engage in commercial sex acts.”
asserted
Burke → allege → acts
“The money, food, shelter, designer gifts, travel, a ring, and a promise of future marriage that Burke gave to Decedent were given on account of the sexual acts, satisfying the commercial-sex-act element,” the suit says.
asserted
suit → give → element
“Because Decedent was a minor, neither her purported consent nor any mistakes as to her age is a defense.”
asserted
consent → purport → age
Burke’s publishing and merchandising companies are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, which claims they were the vehicles that helped fund the alleged abuse.
uncertain
that → name → abuse
Listed as co-defendants are Josh Marshall and Robert Morgenroth, Burke’s managers; their company, Mogul Vision; and Burke’s live-in security guard, who the suit alleges drove him to pick up Celeste from her parents’ home in 2024.
asserted
suit → list → 2024
The suit also lists Burke’s mother, Colleen Burke, as a co-defendant and says she approved and funded “arrangements that housed Decedent and enabled Burke’s access to her.”
asserted
that → list → her
All co-defendants are accused of failing to protect a minor and negligence.
asserted
defendants → accuse → minor
It was not immediately clear whether Burke had an attorney representing him in the lawsuit.
asserted
Burke → have → lawsuit
Contact information could not be found for Burke’s companies or his security guard.
uncertain
information → find → companies
Marshall, the owner of Mogul Vision, which employed Morgenroth, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on behalf of himself, the company or Morgenroth.
asserted
which → employ → himself
Messages left at numbers believed to be associated with Morgenroth and Colleen Burke were not immediately returned.
asserted
Messages → leave → Morgenroth
The suit requests a jury trial.
asserted
suit → request → trial
Celeste’s parents asked for the death penalty this week.
asserted
parents → ask → penalty
“If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being, devoid of feelings ... and without conscience, who only caused pain to our daughter, our family, and the world that supports our precious daughter,” they said in a statement on what would have been Celeste’s 16th birthday.
asserted
what → activate → statement
