D4vd named as 'target' in Celeste Rivas' murder investigation

Singer D4vd has been confirmed as a suspect in the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas.

Newly unsealed court documents in Texas where D4vd - born David Anthony Burke - is from, and where his family still resides, refer to him as a 'target' as per ABC News.

The documents, which include petitions for his parents to come a testify in front of a grand jury in Los Angeles, state, 'Target may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses...: One Count of Murder.'

The petition also states, 'Target may be involved in the death of 14-year-old victim Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who may have been a victim of foul play.' 

Rivas's remains were discovered late last year inside a Tesla registered to D4vd, 20, which had been parked in a Hollywood tow lot. 

The documents also stated that Rivas's decomposing body had been dismembered, and parts were found in two separate bags in a front storage compartment. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to D4vd's representative and the Los Angeles District Attorney's office for comment and has yet to hear back.

Meanwhile D4vd's parents are still battling the court order to testify in Los Angeles, their attorney told ABC News, as they believe their due process rights are being violated.

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Rivas's body was found on September 8, but her family said she was last seen in the spring of 2024, when she left home to see a movie with D4vd and never returned.

The Los Angeles Police Department has been investigating her suspicious death and named D4vd as a 'person of interest,' although no official charges have been filed.

Grand jury proceedings began in the fall, but have been closed to the public.

Earlier this month court filings obtained by the Los Angeles Times revealed that D4vd's family was subpoenaed to testify in the case.

His parents, Dawud and Colleen, and his brother, Caleb, were reportedly summoned to testify before the grand jury.

However, the family filed three petitions in a Texas appeals court, where they currently reside, arguing they weren't given due process because the affidavits they saw were redacted.

Their lawyers claimed that because they weren't given the full affidavits, they didn't have the opportunity to understand why they would be considered material witnesses.

A lower court had previously denied their petition, and the 1st District Court of Appeals affirmed the decision.

The appeals panel set another hearing date for February 24.

In a footnote of the filing, the court referred to an 'underlying case' of The People of the State of California v David Burke.

The footnote marked the first time a case against D4vd has appeared in Rivas's death investigation.

There have been no public filings related to the case, and the grand jury proceedings have been kept under wraps.

An anonymous source told the Los Angeles Times that the proceedings were described as an 'investigative grand jury.'

A document submitted to the court by LAPD Detective Joshua Byers in November also referred to the case as 'an investigation into murder,' the LA Times reported.

The document was a petition to bar the LA County medical examiner from making Rivas's autopsy results public or speaking about the results.

The medical examiner's office removed the case from the department's website in November.

The coroner confirmed to media outlets at the time that they received a court order to place a security hold on the case, and Rivas's cause of death was never released to the public.

Grand jury testimonies have also been sealed, but sources have previously said that D4vd's tour manager, Robert Morgenroth, and streamer friend Neo Langston have both testified, according to TMZ.

Langston was arrested in Montana earlier this year after failing to appear in the California court as a witness.

It's unclear why prosecutors have called D4vd's family to testify.

The family has kept a low profile since Rivas's death, but the Daily Mail obtained photos of Colleen in September at a Texas pawn and gun store.

Documents obtained by TMZ in October claimed that D4vd transferred the deeds of two of his homes in Houston to his mother.

The real estate documents reportedly revealed that the first transfer occurred on September 18, just one day after authorities raided his Hollywood Hills rental.

Police in Texas also responded to a report on September 18 of a reported squatting incident.

A 911 caller falsely claimed a shooting happened at the home, but police body camera footage revealed D4vd notifying authorities when they arrived that everyone was alive and well in the home.

The second transfer was recorded just a few days later, on September 22.

In September after the remains were found, D4vd's representative said he ‘has been informed about what’s happened, and although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities’.