Singer D4vd confirmed as 'target' of murder investigation after teenager found dead in car boot
Court filings showed that D4vd has been identified as a "target" in the Los Angeles investigation and may be subject to proceedings for one count of murder.
US singer D4vd is the target of a grand jury investigation into the murder of a 14-year-old girl, whose remains were found in his car in September.
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Court filings show the artist's family was summoned by a California court to testify before the grand jury.
The material from the case was released to the public after Dawud Burke, D4vd's father, fought against the summons in a Texas court.
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It confirmed that D4vd has been identified as a "target" in the Los Angeles investigation and that he may be subject to proceedings for one count of murder.
Investigators are looking into the gruesome killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed head and torso was found in the front boot of a Tesla car registered to D4vd's address in Texas on September 8, 2025.
These court documents provided a wave of new information about the case, which has been shrouded in secrecy.
D4vd has not been charged or officially named as a suspect in the case and an indictment has not been announced.
The singer has not commented on the case but is "cooperating with police", his representatives say.
The documents show that police found Ms Hernadez's remains while D4vd was on tour.
Her severed arms and legs were discovered in a separate black bag in the impounded car, which was parked in a Hollywood tow yard, the documents said.
The teenager, from Lake Elsinore in California, had been missing and was last seen in April 2024.
Police said they discovered her remains inside the boot after responding to reports of a foul odour at the scene.
Investigators said the decomposition of her body indicated that she had already been "deceased for several weeks".
After discovering the remains, a police spokesperson said that the case was being investigated by its robbery-homicide division.
Prosecutors believed the testimony of D4vd's family was "material and necessary" to the investigation, court filings show.
Los Angeles Police Department detectives even travelled to Texas to bring the family to California and appear before the grand jury, court records show.
But Texas court transcripts showed Dawud Burke, along with his wife Colleen and son Caleb, argued the summons violates their right to due process because the notice they received from the California court contained redacted information.
Dawud Burke's attorney said in the filing: "The Court ordered Mr. Burke to travel across the country to appear before a California grand jury without ever allowing him to see the full documents that justified the extraordinary compulsion."
He also believed the California court's out-of-state subpoena was compelling him to travel against his will.
The level of secrecy seen in this case is "virtually unheard of in other counties", Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner Dr Odey Ukpo said.
In November, the LA County medical examiner's office was told it could not post details about Rivas Hernandez's death on its website, having received a court order imposing a security hold on the case.
The police department said it requested the order to ensure officers "receive information from the Medical Examiner before the public".
Dr Ukpo said this practise of security "has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system".
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office declined to comment.