Rising rapper D4vd faces life sentence over teenage girl killing allegations

D4vd, a rising American rapper, was charged with the murder of a teenage girl whose decomposing body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered in his name in Los Angeles, city prosecutors announced, according to AFP.

The 21-year-old artist faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or even the death penalty, prosecutor Nathan Hochman said, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

The murder charge is accompanied by aggravating circumstances, including “repeated sexual acts, obscene and lewd acts with a person under the age of 14, as well as mutilation of a corpse.”

The body of Celeste Rivas was found dismembered and in an advanced state of decomposition in the trunk of a Tesla owned by d4vd on September 8, 2025.

The teenager had been missing for several months. Originally from Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles, she had been reported missing since the age of 13.

Police discovered the body after responding to a call in a parking lot in Hollywood, where employees and residents complained about a strong, unbearable odor coming from a vehicle.

According to investigators, the car had been parked for nearly a month in an upscale neighborhood of the city, not far from a restaurant recently opened by Elon Musk, before being towed to the parking facility.

The shocking crime has drawn widespread attention in the United States, particularly as d4vd’s music had recently begun gaining popularity.

The young rapper rose to fame in 2022 after his song Romantic Homicide went viral on TikTok.