D4vd Sued by Family of Slain Teen Girl
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What happened
The parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against singer David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, and against his mother, managers, companies, and a live-in security guard. Hernandez’s remains were found in September 2025 in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke at a Hollywood impound lot. Burke, 21, has been charged with murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains; he has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody. Prosecutors allege a relationship began when she was 13 and that she was killed at his Hollywood Hills home in April 2025 after threatening to expose it. The suit seeks damages for wrongful death and related claims; her parents have also called for the death penalty.
Sourcing check · Rests on documents, no one quoted · 4 articles
No article quotes anyone; the reporting rests on court filing, criminal charge. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 0 of 4
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: No article does.
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 4
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: court filing, criminal charge
- Credits another outlet 0 of 4
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 4
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 11, 02:17 UTC by NBC News, naming its source. First document in the first report, from NBC News (court filing).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
BLINDSPOT.
Only left-leaning outlets are covering this story
— the other side's media is silent.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage has not reported the lawsuit, so those readers miss the parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez suing D4vd for wrongful death and his inner circle for negligence. Left-leaning coverage describes accusations of control through a concealed phone and paid travel after prosecutors said the relationship began when she was 13. The discovery of remains in a Tesla at an impound lot appears in both NBC News and ABC News.
Graphic language for the killing differs in left-leaning coverage, with NBC News citing chain saws and ABC News describing a series of "ghoulish" steps. That contrast leaves the method of dismemberment far more specific in one report than the other.
What none of the coverage answers is whether the civil claims against the mother and managers can proceed while the criminal trial is pending.
Bottom line
Followers of right-leaning media missed the lawsuit ABC News said was stamped by Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing D4vd of the teen’s wrongful death.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s parents sued D4vd for wrongful death and named his mother, managers and companies as co-defendants for negligence
- Text messages at a July hearing showed Celeste had gotten pregnant by Burke and had an abortion
- The parents asked for the death penalty in a statement on what would have been Celeste’s 16th birthday
- Some parts of the body were never recovered and identification took more than a week due to decomposition
- An attorney for Colleen Burke declined to comment on the lawsuit
The Left View
NBC News and ABC News report that Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas sued Burke for wrongful death, battery, sexual battery, childhood sexual assault, false imprisonment, human trafficking, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and that they also named his mother Colleen Burke, managers Josh Marshall and Robert Morgenroth, Mogul Vision, Burke’s companies, and a security guard. They recount hearing evidence that the relationship started when Hernandez was 13, that she became pregnant and had an abortion, and that Burke allegedly used gifts, travel, a concealed phone, and an Uber pickup the night prosecutors say she died. ABC notes unspecified damages including punitive damages and unsuccessful attempts to reach most defendants; an attorney for Colleen Burke declined comment. NewsNation reports the family marked what would have been her 16th birthday by calling for the death penalty. Coverage frames the civil filing alongside the pending criminal case in which Burke has pleaded not guilty.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it is grounded in a stamped Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint, named defendants, a pending criminal prosecution with specific charges, and evidence already presented at a multi-day evidentiary hearing. Established facts are the lawsuit’s filing, the discovery and identification of Hernandez’s remains in Burke’s Tesla, Burke’s arrest and not-guilty plea, and the family’s public death-penalty request. The killing, sexual-abuse and trafficking claims, and alleged negligence by managers and family members remain unproven allegations. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for answers or motions from named defendants, further court filings, and how the civil case moves relative to the criminal trial.
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