The parents of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was discovered in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla last year have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the singer.
Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas, the parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, brought the civil case in Los Angeles Superior Court on the one-year anniversary of the disturbing discovery by authorities.
The complaint closely mirrors allegations already laid out by prosecutors, who have charged the artist with murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The lawsuit, however, extends beyond the 21-year-old musician, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. It also names several people and businesses connected to him, including his management company, Mogul Vision, which the family says leased his Los Angeles residence, as well as his live-in security guard and his mother.
Prosecutors and the civil filing both allege that Burke began what was described as a “continuous sexual relationship” with Rivas Hernandez in November 2023, when she was only 13 years old.
Over the course of their alleged two-year relationship, the pair are said to have exchanged roughly 8,000 to 9,000 sexually explicit text messages, according to the lawsuit. The filing also claims they discussed a pregnancy loss and the use of the emergency contraceptive Plan B.
The complaint further alleges that Burke photographed the teenager during sexual encounters inside his home, and that the relationship continued even after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy informed him that Rivas Hernandez was underage.
According to the lawsuit, the situation escalated in April 2025 after Rivas Hernandez allegedly texted Burke that she “will end ur career and ur life.” The family’s attorneys claim he then stabbed her twice and left her to bleed to death, a process they say may have lasted anywhere from several minutes to an hour.
Singer D4vd, David Anthony Burke, is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered remains were found in Burke’s Tesla on September 8, 2025
Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas, Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s parents, filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court
At that point, both the lawsuit and prosecutors allege, Burke used a chainsaw to sever the teenager’s limbs in his garage as he tried to collect the blood in a kiddie pool.
He is also accused of amputating two of Rivas Hernandez’s fingers in an effort to hide a pair of matching tattoos they had gotten together.
The lawsuit further alleges that others ‘enabled Burke to isolate the decedent’ and ‘facilitated his travel, housing and security.’
It notes that management company Mogul Vision leased Burke’s Hollywood Hills home and hired his in-home security guard, Sheldon Jacques.
Burke’s mother, Colleen Burke, ran the firm and his finance manager, Robert Morganroth, approved all the payments and allegedly funded his behavior.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit claims, Jacques helped transport the teenager to Burke’s home in early 2024 as she repeatedly left her family’s home.
Together, they ‘knew or should have known of Burke’s dangerous propensities toward, and sexual exploitation of Decedent, a minor, and failed to take reasonable steps to protect her, to supervise Burke or to prevent the continued abuse,’ the lawsuit claims.
It also claims that the companies conspired with Burke in a ‘coordinated effort to hide evidence relating to the sexual abuse, the killing, including the concealment, dismemberment and disposal of Decedent’s remains and the destruction and concealment of evidence.’
The family is seeking damages from the singer as well as his various companies and managers, his mother and his security guard
The family is now seeking damages from the singer as well as his various companies and managers, his mother and his security guard.
They claim they suffered damages including ‘the loss of Decedent’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, affection, society, moral support, together with funeral and burial expenses in amounts to be proven at trial.’
Our News Outlet has reached out to Mogul Vision for comment. The firm has previously denied any knowledge of Burke’s alleged illegal behavior.
Contact information for Jacques could not be ascertained.
The lawsuit comes just days after Rivas Hernandez’s family pushed for the death penalty if he is convicted of her murder.
‘If the death penalty were activated, it would be perfect for this kind of human being, devoid of feelings and emptiness inside, and without conscience, who only caused pain to our daughter, our family, and the world that supports our precious daughter,’ the family said in a statement to the New York Post,
‘But that’s not in our hands, but rather in God’s, and the California justice system.’
The decision of whether to implement the death penalty will ultimately be made by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Burke is facing charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains to which he has pleaded not guilty
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Burke faced a setback last week when his attorneys withdrew from his case, with Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter telling the judge overseeing the trial that they could no longer represent the singer.
‘This morning the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appointed the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel,’ the lawyers said in a statement to TMZ.
‘We continue to support David and his defense against these serious charges,’ the lawyers continued.
‘We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office has taken over the representation and that David has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him.’
In a statement to the LA Times, LA County Deputy Public Defender Walid Kandeel said: ‘We recognize the loss of life underlying the allegations and extend our sympathies to those who are grieving.
‘At the same time, David Burke is entitled to a defense that takes his circumstances seriously and carefully examines the evidence. We are committed to providing him with that defense.’
