D4vd charged with murder in 'brutal and horrific' death of teen: DA

[0:00] Good morning. My name is Nathan Hochman. I'm the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. [0:05] With me up here is Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonald. Also at this podium on the [0:12] DA side are the Assistant District Attorney Maria Ramirez who oversees our special operations. We [0:19] have John McKinney who is our Director of Specialized Prosecutions. The Assistant Head Deputy [0:25] District Attorney is Habib Balian of the Major Crimes Division. Deputy District Attorney Beth [0:31] Silverman of the Major Crimes Division will be the lead prosecutor on this case. From the Los Angeles [0:38] Police Department we also have Captain Scott Williams who's the commanding officer of LAPD's [0:44] Robbery Homicide Division. The Chief of Detectives Alan Hamilton. The Director of Specialized Prosecutions [0:52] Mike Rimkunis. And the LAPD Detectives on this case, Josh Byers and Corey Farrell. Today I am [1:01] announcing the charges against David Anthony Burke, the musician known as David spelled D-4-V-D, [1:10] in connection with the brutal and horrific murder of Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time. These charges [1:19] include the most serious charges that a DA's office can bring. That is first degree murder with special [1:26] circumstances. The special circumstances being lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain, [1:33] or murdering a witness in an investigation. These special circumstances carry with it along with the [1:41] first degree murder charge, a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death [1:49] penalty. The determination on whether or not the District Attorney's Office will seek the death [1:54] penalty will be made at a later time. Before I get into the actual charges, and there are additional [2:03] charges against Mr. Burke, including continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an [2:13] individual under 14 years old, and mutilating a human remains of a body. Before I get into the description [2:22] of these charges and their seriousness, I want to look at this as a parent. I am a parent of three [2:29] children, and a parent's nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes [2:37] back. As we will show in a court of law, and what I also want to make sure about that the understanding [2:43] of these charges is clear, is my description of these charges is not evidence that we are going to [2:49] present in court. These charges, in fact, will not be evidence in the court. Evidence will be the witness [2:57] testimony, the documents, and different types of admissible testimony that we will admit into court, [3:05] in the prosecution, and if it leads to the eventual trial of Mr. Burke, to convince a jury of 12 people, [3:13] beyond a reasonable doubt that each and every one of these charges is true, as well as the special [3:20] allegations and circumstances that have been alleged. Now, back to this being a parent's nightmare. [3:27] On April 23rd, 2025, as been alleged by the complaint, Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, [3:37] went to Mr. Burke's house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again. On September 8th, [3:45] 2025, as alleged in the complaint, Ms. Celeste's remains, her dismembered and decomposed remains, [3:59] were found in two bags inside of a front trunk of a car registered to Mr. Burke. [4:09] Thereafter began an investigation. The investigation was to determine who killed, who murdered, [4:17] Celeste, months and months before. That investigation was carried out in unison and in partnership [4:25] between the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division and the District Attorney's Office. At every point in the [4:32] investigation, through the arrest and the filing of charges, the LAPD and the District Attorney's [4:39] Office have worked in lockstep. There's been no disagreements amongst these entities in deciding how to [4:47] proceed with this case, ultimately leading to these charges today. So what you have as well with these [4:54] charges is that, again, there are three sets of charges that have been brought. The first-degree [4:59] murder with special circumstances. And again, those special circumstances are lying in wait. That Celeste [5:07] went to Mr. Burke's home on the night of April 23rd, 2025, as alleged in the complaint, at his invitation, [5:17] and again, was not heard from again. The second is a special circumstance being that this murder was [5:26] committed for financial gain. As the evidence will show in court, the financial gain was for Mr. Burke [5:33] to maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening on that particular night. The [5:43] third charge, in addition to lying in wait and for financial gain, is murdering a witness to an [5:50] investigation. In this particular case, as the evidence will come out in court, the witness to the [5:58] investigation was Celeste. And the investigation was into the lewd and lascivious sexual acts committed [6:06] by Mr. Burke, that is the subject of count two of this complaint, with Celeste, while she was under [6:13] 14 years old. I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste, and their grief is [6:28] uncalculable as to what happened to their daughter. What they have demanded, what we have assured them, [6:35] that the district attorney's office working with LAPD would give them, is the idea, is the proof beyond a [6:43] reasonable doubt on who killed their daughter, on how their daughter was killed, when their daughter [6:52] was killed, and bring that killer to justice. That killer that we have now charged is David Anthony Burke.