By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-06 20:56:25 | Updated at 2026-09-06 21:58:33
1 hour ago
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s family has called for D4vd to get the death penalty — on the eve of what would have been her 16th birthday.
In an exclusive statement to the California Post, her parents said it would be the “perfect” punishment for the locked up singer, who is accused of killing and dismembering her last year.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is currently weighing whether to pursue the death penalty or life imprisonment for the performer, whose real name is David Burke, ahead of his trial later this year.
Celeste would have been turning 16 on Monday, and Tuesday marks one year to the day since her body was found in the back of a Tesla in a Hollywood tow yard.
Releasing a never-before-seen picture of their daughter, her family told The Post: “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.”
It added: “But that’s not in our hands, but rather in God’s, and the California justice system.” It’s signed “The Rivas Hernandez Family.”
The decision on whether Burke faces life in prison or death if convicted on the charges lies in Hochman’s hands.
Last Monday, moments after Burke dropped his high profile legal team for a public defender in a dramatic hearing, Hochman took to the mics and said he had not made a decision yet.
The DA said he was awaiting a mitigation packet from Burke’s previous legal team outlining the reasons why Burke should not face the death penalty, but had not received it.
He said he will allow the new public defender time to submit a packet if he chooses. Hochman earlier this year reversed policy when it came to the death penalty, releasing a ground breaking statement.
He said: “Effective immediately, the prior administration’s extreme and categorical policy forbidding prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in any case is rescinded.
“In its place, the new murder with special circumstances policy will consider pursuing the death penalty only after an extensive and comprehensive review and only in exceedingly rare cases.”
He also said families of murder victim’s survivors will have “consultation” and “full input, to ensure that the punishment sought by the office is just, fair, fitting and appropriate.”
The Post contacted the DA’s office for reaction to the Rivas Hernandez statement.
Celeste’s parents watched in horror during D4vd’s hearings over the past few weeks as horrific images of her decapitated and mutilated corpse were displayed in a court.
Her family ignored their attorney’s request to look away as the pictures were displayed in a Los Angeles courtroom during the first day of the singer’s preliminary hearing last month.
The couple were later spotted crying in the hall of the courthouse after viewing their daughter’s severed limbs, head, torso and fingers that were allegedly found in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla.
The singer is accused of ordering an Uber to deliver Rivas from her family home in Lake Elsinore to his Hollywood Hills home on the night of April 23, 2025, after dating her for months and getting her pregnant.
He then stabbed her and stood by while she bled out, prosecutors claim.
It is alleged he loaded her body in his Tesla and drove to Santa Barbara. Hernandez’s passport card was allegedly found in the exact same spot Burke’s Tesla was tracked months later by a Cal Trans worker.
Burke allegedly ordered a shovel from Home Depot and had it delivered to his home by Postmates. About a week later, he ordered two chainsaws from Amazon that were delivered to his home, and on May 5, he allegedly ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags and a blue inflatable pool, court documents say.
Investigators testified Burke dismembered Hernandez with a chainsaw in the pool. Pieces of it were found on her remains during the autopsy, according to the medical examiner.
