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A mugshot of David Anthony Burke, who performs under the stage name D4vd, is shown at a press conference. Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP/dpa
Keystone
Seven months after the decomposed body of a 14-year-old girl was found in the trunk of a car, the public prosecutor's office in Los Angeles has filed murder charges against the US musician D4vd. The 21-year-old was arrested last week. District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the three-count indictment on Monday (local time). If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
The musician, whose real name is David Burke, had an abusive sexual relationship with the minor, Hochman said. He did not initially comment on the cause of death. The autopsy report is expected later. The girl had been in the musician's house in April 2025 and had not been seen alive since, the investigators said in a press conference.
The case had already caused a stir in September 2025: employees of a tow yard in Hollywood alerted the police to a conspicuous foul odor. Investigators found body parts in black bags in the trunk of the recovered vehicle registered to Burke, which had previously been reported as abandoned.
According to NBC News, citing court documents, the body was in a badly decomposed state and had probably been in the vehicle for some time. The girl from Lake Elsinore, around 110 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles, had been missing since April 2024.
The singer had already become the focus of investigators months ago, followed by a grand jury investigation. According to consistent media reports, his lawyers rejected the allegations.
D4vd became internationally famous with the songs "Romantic Homicide" and "Here with Me", which went viral on Tiktok and were streamed billions of times. In 2025, he also provided the anthem for the video game "Fortnite".
20.04.2026, 20:49
