Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s may have recently made headlines for calling for a death penalty sentencing for D4vd for his alleged role in the killing of their teenage daughter, but newly uncovered court documents suggest they’re looking for the singer to pay for the crime in more ways than one.
As more shocking details from the case emerge ahead of its trial kickoff, Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas – parents of the slain teen Celeste – have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against D4vd (born David Anthony Burke).
Submitted in Los Angeles County Superior Court recently, the suit seeks undisclosed damages from D4vd as well as his companies, managers, security guard, and even his mother on claims they either knew or should have known about his alleged inappropriate romantic and sexual relationship with the 14-year-old girl.
What’s more, the court docs claim some of the named parties even enabled the alleged union by covering up or providing transportation and housing for the couple.
The lawsuit also alleges that Burke began a sexual relationship with Celeste in November 2023 when she was only 13-years-old. In 2025, he was accused of dismembering her body and leaving the remains in the trunk of his Tesla.
He would go on to plead not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
News of the wrongful death lawsuit follows reports the singer was assigned a public defender after being declared “indigent” and unable to afford his mounting legal costs – a status that quickly led to the exit of his former high-powered attorneys Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter.
This after TMZ uncovered real estate records showing D4vd’s father, Dawud Burke, sold a three-bedroom property in Houston for $229,000 in early July after taking out a $138,000 loan against another Houston property in late April.
At writing, it’s not been confirmed if Dawud made the moves to cover his son’s legal woes but many critics are skeptical about the timing.
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