Full Press Conference: LA DA Announces First-Degree Murder Charges Against D4VD

[0:05] Morning, everybody. We are going to give you an update on this case here in just a minute to give you an idea of what's going to happen here. [0:11] We've got the Los Angeles County District Attorney, Nathan Hoffman, and the Chief of Police, Jim McDonald, coming up, and they will be speaking to you. [0:19] I will ask you, when we get to any questions, there's only going to be time for just a few brief questions, so this isn't going to be a long Q&A afterwards. [0:28] I'm going to ask you, if you could, do one at a time as much as possible so that we can hear the question, process it, and answer it appropriately. [0:36] District Attorney Nathan Hoffman. [0:50] Good morning. My name is Nathan Hoffman. I'm the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. [0:54] With me up here is Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonald. [1:00] Also at this podium on the DA side are the Assistant District Attorney Maria Ramirez, who oversees our special operations. [1:08] We have John McKinney, who is our Director of Specialized Prosecutions. [1:13] The Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney is Habib Balian of the Major Crimes Division. [1:19] Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman of the Major Crimes Division will be the lead prosecutor on this case. [1:27] From the Los Angeles Police Department, we also have Captain Scott Williams, who's the commanding officer of LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division. [1:35] The Chief of Detectives, Alan Hamilton. [1:39] The Director of Specialized Prosecutions, Mike Rinkunis. [1:43] And the LAPD detectives on this case, Josh Byers and Corey Farrell. [1:50] Today I am announcing the charges against David Anthony Burke, the musician known as David, spelled D-4-V-D, [1:59] in connection with the brutal and horrific murder of Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time. [2:08] These charges include the most serious charges that a DA's office can bring. [2:13] That is, first-degree murder with special circumstances. [2:17] The special circumstances being lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain, or murdering a witness in an investigation. [2:26] These special circumstances carry with it, along with the first-degree murder charge, [2:33] a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. [2:40] The determination on whether or not the District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty will be made at a later time. [2:47] Before I get into the actual charges, and there are additional charges against Mr. Burke, [2:56] including continuous sexual acts, lewd and lascivious sexual acts, [3:01] with an individual under 14 years old, and mutilating a human remains of a body. [3:09] Before I get into the description of these charges and their seriousness, [3:14] I want to look at this as a parent. [3:17] I am a parent of three children, and a parent's nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back. [3:27] As we will show in a court of law, and what I also want to make sure about that the understanding of these charges is clear, [3:35] is my description of these charges is not evidence that we are going to present in court. [3:40] These charges, in fact, will not be evidence in the court. [3:44] Evidence will be the witness testimony, the documents, and different types of admissible testimony [3:51] that we will admit into court in the prosecution, and if it leads to the eventual trial of Mr. Burke, [4:00] to convince a jury of 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt that each and every one of these charges is true, [4:08] as well as the special allegations and circumstances that have been alleged. [4:13] Now, back to this being a parent's nightmare. [4:17] On April 23, 2025, as been alleged by the complaint, [4:23] Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke's house in the Hollywood Hills. [4:31] She was never heard from again. [4:34] On September 8, 2025, as alleged in the complaint, [4:38] Mr. Burke, excuse me, Ms. Celeste's remains, her dismembered and decomposed remains were found in two bags [4:51] inside of a front trunk of a car registered to Mr. Burke. [4:59] Thereafter began an investigation. [5:01] The investigation was to determine who killed, who murdered Celeste months and months before. [5:10] That investigation was carried out in unison and in partnership between the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division [5:17] and the District Attorney's Office. [5:20] At every point in the investigation, through the arrest and the filing of charges, [5:26] the LAPD and the District Attorney's Office have worked in lockstep. [5:32] There's been no disagreements amongst these entities in deciding how to proceed with this case, [5:38] ultimately leading to these charges today. [5:42] So what you have as well with these charges is that, again, there are three sets of charges that have been brought. [5:48] The first-degree murder with special circumstances, [5:51] and again, those special circumstances are lying in wait. [5:56] That Celeste went to Mr. Burke's home on the night of April 23, 2025, [6:03] as alleged in the complaint, at his invitation, and again, was not heard from again. [6:10] The second is a special circumstance being that this murder was committed for financial gain. [6:17] As the evidence will show in court, the financial gain was for Mr. Burke. [6:23] To maintain his very lucrative musical career that Celeste was threatening on that particular night. [6:33] The third charge, in addition to lying in wait and for financial gain, [6:38] is murdering a witness to an investigation. [6:41] In this particular case, as the evidence will come out in court, [6:45] the witness to the investigation was Celeste. [6:50] And the investigation was into the lewd and lascivious sexual acts committed by Mr. Burke. [6:57] It is the subject of count two of this complaint with Celeste while she was under 14 years old. [7:05] I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste, [7:16] and their grief is uncalculable as to what happened to their daughter. [7:21] What they have demanded, what we have assured them that the district attorney's office working with LAPD would give them, [7:30] is the proof beyond a reasonable doubt on who killed their daughter, [7:38] on how their daughter was killed, when their daughter was killed, [7:43] and bring that killer to justice. [7:45] That killer that we have now charged is David Anthony Burke. [7:54] We will have questions after I speak and Chief McDonald speaks. [7:58] At this point, I invite Chief McDonald to speak. [8:03] Thank you very much. [8:04] Good morning, and thank you all for being here. [8:07] I want to begin by expressing my deepest condolences to the parents of Celeste Rivas. [8:12] No parent or any human being should have to endure what you've gone through. [8:16] Today, alongside D.A. Hockman and our partners at the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, [8:23] and thanks to the tireless and hard work of our investigators at the LAPD, [8:28] we're announcing the arrest and prosecution of David Burke for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas. [8:35] Throughout the seven-month investigation, this department has faced criticism for how we handle the case [8:41] and for our decision not to provide details. [8:45] I want to be clear about something. [8:47] My duty is not to fuel speculation. [8:50] It's to deliver justice, and that requires patience and discipline on everybody's part. [8:57] This investigation was driven by a single purpose, [9:00] to secure justice for Celeste Rivas and for those who loved her. [9:05] We had to be certain that nothing we did or said would ever jeopardize this case. [9:12] Ms. Rivas was a reported runaway from Riverside County. [9:15] During the course of our investigation, detectives learned that she had been involved in a sexual relationship with Mr. Burke [9:22] when she was a minor and he was an adult. [9:26] On April 23, 2025, Ms. Rivas arrived at Mr. Burke's home in the Hollywood Hills. [9:31] That's the last time she was known to be alive. [9:35] On September 8, 2025, Ms. Rivas' dismembered and badly decomposed body was discovered in the front trunk of Mr. Burke's impounded Tesla. [9:46] From that moment forward, our investigators faced an extraordinary difficult and complex case. [9:53] The condition of her remains delayed the medical examiner's ability to be able to determine cause of death. [10:00] The substantial amount of time that passed between her death and the discovery meant that crucial evidence had degraded or disappeared. [10:08] And as detectives worked to uncover the truth, they also had to sift through and debunk a great deal of false information circulating publicly. [10:19] These challenges were real and they required patience, precision, and an unwavering commitment to the facts. [10:27] Despite these obstacles and despite intense public pressure, our Robbery Homicide Division detectives remained steadfast in their duties. [10:35] They recovered and analyzed a substantial amount of digital and forensic evidence. [10:41] They stayed focused, disciplined, and committed to uncovering the truth. [10:47] Their work in close collaboration with the District Attorney's Office has brought us to this moment today. [10:53] I want to thank the District Attorney and his team, as always, for their partnership. [10:57] This case demanded coordination, persistence, and a shared commitment to justice. [11:03] Also, thank you to our media partners for showing up today and for sharing this important message with the public. [11:10] And finally, to Ms. Rivas' family. [11:13] We cannot undo the pain you are feeling. [11:15] Our hope is that today brings some measure of accountability and a step in the journey toward healing. [11:22] Please know that the Los Angeles Police Department remains fully committed to seeking justice on behalf of your daughter. [11:29] Thank you. [11:33] So at this point, we'll take questions. [11:35] Anything more you can tell us about the family? [11:42] The details of the allegations that have made, particularly with that special circumstance, will be produced in court. [11:50] Did you say determine the cause of death and the difficulty was to determine both the matter of cause and death? [11:55] So with respect to the coroner's report, we will be seeking quite quickly to provide an order to the court that now allows the coroner to release that report to the public. [12:07] I think the police chief got it right that in a situation where you don't have an eyewitness account or we can't put point to a video that shows the killer killing someone. [12:29] You have to go through the very rigorous and thorough investigation to look at all the digital and forensic evidence. [12:35] You have to speak with witnesses, often who are cooperative and some who are not cooperative, in order to obtain all the information necessary to decide who did what, when, how, and what their mental state was at the time. [12:50] That is what we've been doing over the last between September 8th, roughly, and today when we bring these charges on April 20th. [12:58] So, again, it's the type of case that you want to make sure you get maximum information. [13:04] And, by the way, if there's anyone out there that has material information about this particular murder or any other actions taken by Mr. Burke, [13:15] please come forward to the Los Angeles Police Department, come forward to the L.A. County DA's office, and report that information. [13:23] Mr. Hoffman, there are other people who are aware of this relationship. [13:27] Is it possible that you will be arresting other people within his circle, and did he act alone in this death? [13:34] Again, with respect to whether or not there's any other individuals or we're going to take any other actions, you will know about them if we do, but at this point I'm not commenting. [13:43] Do you believe that you know how she was killed beyond it being homicide, the actual cause of death? [13:49] The coroner's report will be released shortly. [13:52] Because it is not currently released, I'm not going to be commenting on that. [13:55] But was it determined, not that, if you won't say what it was, but has it been determined how she was killed beyond it being homicide? [14:02] The coroner has made a determination on how Celeste died, and at the point that the coroner's report becomes public, we'll be able to comment on it. [14:11] Was there a specific breakthrough last week? [14:13] Is there physical evidence that ties David to this murder? [14:16] There is physical evidence, and there is forensic and digital evidence that we intend to present in court to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt. [14:27] Only a couple more questions. [14:28] Yes. [14:29] So with respect to the actual details of the evidence we're going to be presenting in court, I'm not going to do that today. [14:50] As far as the concept of a smoking gun, the smoking gun is the totality of the evidence that we're going to bring to prove any case, whether it's this case or any case, beyond a reasonable doubt. [15:02] Is there any evidence that he abused other underage girls? [15:06] An investigation is ongoing. [15:08] If investigation comes – if information comes forward on any – with respect to any additional crimes, we will certainly investigate it. [15:17] There's been so much discussion about the difficulties in this case. [15:20] The chief talked about it as well. [15:22] What makes you confident you can prove? [15:26] What makes us confident is the totality of the evidence that has been obtained by the LAPD robbery homicide, [15:33] by the work that the district attorney's office has done that has led us to the point where we believe we can prove each and every one of these three charges [15:43] and the special circumstances and the special allegation beyond a reasonable doubt. [15:48] Thank you, everybody. [15:50] Raise your hand if you have Spanish language and you need a Spanish language translation. [15:54] Okay. [15:55] Keep your hands up. [15:55] My team will come around to you and we will have someone to hide you. [15:59] Thank you very, very much. [16:00] Thank you. [16:04] Has she been missing 2024 or 2025? [16:20] So, a few things, you guys. [16:23] The case is being filed. [16:25] So, I know you guys have your deadlines right now. [16:27] You can say the DA is now seeing the charges are being filed today. [16:30] I think she's gonna I'll have her stay right up here so it's easier for you