LOS ANGELES, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Family members of a 14-year-old girl whom the recording artist known as D4vd is charged with fatally stabbing and dismembering have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the singer and some of his associates, news media outlets reported on Tuesday.
The civil case was brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday, six weeks after a criminal court judge ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence against the indie pop vocalist, born David Anthony Burke, for him to stand trial for murder.
The lawsuit, according to the Los Angeles Times, mirrors the criminal accusations that Burke arranged for the victim to be transported in April 2025 to his Hollywood Hills home, where he allegedly stabbed Celeste Rivas Hernandez to death, then cut up her body to dispose of her corpse.
Also named as defendants in the civil case were Burke’s manager, the talent management company representing him, a live-in security guard and the singer’s mother — all of whom the lawsuit claims were complicit because they knew, or should have known, of Burke’s inappropriate relationship with Hernandez, the Times and celebrity website TMZ reported.
The girl’s parents, Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas, also issued a statement calling for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Burke, 21, if he is convicted of the criminal charges he faces, according to the Times.
Burke, who was arrested in April of this year, is charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of human remains, and child sexual abuse stemming from the slaying of Hernandez. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains jailed without bond.
The singer-songwriter began his career as a viral TikTok sensation with songs produced for Fortnite gaming videos in 2022, and his first hit single, “Romantic Homicide,” paved the way for a major-label, multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records.
His debut studio album was released in the same week that prosecutors say Hernandez, his underage girlfriend, went missing and was stabbed to death.
Her decomposing remains were found five months later stuffed into the trunk of a Tesla sedan registered to Burke. The car had been towed to an impoundment lot where workers noticed the stench of decay and called police.
Echoing the allegations leveled by the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the lawsuit claims Burke began a sexual relationship with the victim when she was 13. And as alleged by prosecutors, it says he murdered the girl to silence her after she had threatened out of jealousy to go public and thus ruin his burgeoning showbiz career.
Burke last month replaced his high-profile attorney with a team from the public defender’s office, which as a matter of policy never comments on its pending cases. It was not known whether Burke has retained a separate attorney to represent him in the civil case.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Chris Reese)
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