“Bad Decision Led to Teen Tragedy,” Says Los Angeles PI Steve Fischer on Rivas Hernandez Case
Credit: Photo by Roberto Finizio/NurPhoto via APIn a development that has intensified further pressure on the once rising musician David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, sources close to the investigation confirmed Tuesday that the 20-year-old artist has retained high-profile Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Blair Berk to represent him amid the ongoing probe into the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Berk, renowned for navigating celebrities through DUIs, public “scrapes,” and minor legal entanglements, has limited experience in murder cases, though she has handled them before (most recently, Monica Sementilli, accused of murdering her hairdresser husband). This hiring surfaced on the heels of a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department, suggesting that “criminal liability may not extend beyond the concealment of a body.” As the case unfolds, private investigator Steve Fischer, who has closely tracked the investigation, warns that the narrative may be shifting toward damage control rather than a full-blown homicide case.
Fischer, speaking on a recent broadcast with Los Angeles, painted a picture of a case that could boil down to a misdemeanor charge under California law for concealing a body, punishable by up to a year in jail and fines. “From that news release, it sounds like concealment of a body is probably what we’re looking at,” Fischer said. He speculated that authorities might frame the incident as an overdose or OD gone awry, where “somebody made a bad decision and she ended up in that Tesla.”
Celebrity attorney Blair Berk takes on David Burke’s case—but PI Steve Fisher (@SF_investigates) tells @conlin_lauren that this looks more like damage control than a murder defense pic.twitter.com/f6rkwuRqDw
— Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) October 1, 2025
With no apparent homicide charges on the horizon, D4vd’s role, in Fischer’s view, extends beyond a police station or a courtroom; it’s also about managing a PR nightmare to salvage his career. “It’s going to be a tough thing to do at this time,” Fischer added, noting the viral backlash that D4vd has experienced due to his lyrics, possible connection to minors, and creepy merchandise on his website. However, the stakes could escalate if evidence surfaces of a sexual relationship between the teen and the musician. D4vd has remained silent since the grim discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s body on September 8, 2025, the day after her 15th birthday, in the front trunk of his Tesla, abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.
Fischer also revealed information from a close source indicating that Rivas was spotted at parties alongside D4vd and her own siblings as recently as this past summer. This revelation raises more questions about her status during periods when she was listed as missing, as well as the recent September 2024 footage that TMZ obtained of Rivas at home with family. “An active missing persons report had placed her in the National Crime Information Center. That’s troubling because… nobody cleared her,” Fischer emphasized. “Why wasn’t law enforcement notified that they had eyeballs on her? They knew where she was at. That’s not the way that this is supposed to happen… her family was in touch with her and had an idea where she was at, and that’s a real problem.”
The investigation remains ongoing, with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner yet to determine the cause or manner of death.
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