Last month, authorities discovered the dismembered and decomposing body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas in the trunk of a Tesla belonging to 20-year-old singer D4vd. Despite a few apparent connections to the deceased girl, D4vd has not been charged with a crime or named a suspect in her death.
Though D4vd has not been named as a suspect or charged with a crime, the singer did hire a high-profile defense attorney, and another prominent defense attorney believes that was a good move even if he hasn’t been charged.
What We Know So Far
- A decomposing body was found inside a Tesla belonging to musician D4vd at an impound lot in Hollywood on Sept. 8.
- The car was brought to the impound lot after “someone reported it abandoned” in Hollywood Hills, and police were called after workers “reported a strong odor” coming from the Tesla.
- The Tesla was never reported as stolen.
- The body was discovered inside a bag in the Tesla’s front trunk. The remains were not intact and had badly decomposed.
- The remains were so decomposed that it took authorities more than a week to identify the body.
- The remains were eventually identified as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas.
- D4vd has a matching tattoo with Rivas, and her mother said she has been missing for over a year and that her daughter’s boyfriend was named David.
- D4vd initially decided to continue his world tour while cooperating with the investigation, but he cancelled the remainder of his tour on Wednesday.
- An unreleased love song written by D4vd references someone by the name of “Celeste” in the unfinished title and twice in the lyrics.
- Police raided a home connected to D4vd as they continue the investigation.
- D4vd moves out of the home that the police raided.
- Authorities have not officially deemed the death a homicide since medical examiners have been unable to determine an official cause of death.
- D4vd is not considered a suspect at this point.
D4vd Hires High-Profile Attorney
Earlier this month, D4vd made headlines when he hired prominent criminal defense attorney Blair Berk.
Berk is a high-profile lawyer who has previously represented several celebrity clients in a variety of cases, including Harvey Weinstein, Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West, Mel Gibson, and Britney Spears.
An ‘Intelligent’ Move
While it might seem odd for D4vd to hire a prominent criminal defense attorney when he has not been charged with a crime or even named as a suspect, one expert seems to think that was actually a very wise move.
Earlier this month, we spoke to prominent criminal defense attorney Michael J. Alber, who is not affiliated with the case, but offered his expertise and answered our questions. During our conversation, Alber called it an “intelligent” move from D4vd to employ a lawyer even though he has not been accused of a crime.
“There’s a lot that’s going to go on here,” Alber said. “There’s a lot of management of him. There’s a lot of management of circumstances, communications. Those are the things that I think he’s smart and intelligent for hiring a high-power lawyer.”
Alber has not worked with Berk and has not seen her on trial; she obviously has a reputation.
“While I have not tried cases with Blair Burke or watched her on trial, there appears to be a
reputation point in her ability to handle highly stressful cases and significant cases,” Alber said. “So he made the right choice in getting a top-level lawyer.”
How Will This Help?
Alber thinks that a lawyer will be very helpful to D4vd even if they aren’t explicitly defending him against accusations in a courtroom.
“Communication with law enforcement is going to be big,” Alber said. “How law enforcement perceives him, I think, by having an attorney, it creates a buffer of protection. So this way, he doesn’t get caught making statements he shouldn’t write, making, you know, even things that might be truthful could be somewhat quasi incriminating, even if he’s innocent.”
He also said that even though D4vd. hasn’t been accused or charged, it’s certainly still possible that he could, and this could give an attorney a head start in developing their defense, especially if there is information that could make him “look bad” to a potential jury.
“And I think by him having an attorney and an investigative team that can help corroborate his steps, as well as making sure that if there’s something in his steps that might look bad, a la Casey Anthony, you know, out partying – on the dance floor or wherever she was – after she knows that her child is dead,” Alber said. “You know, that’s that’s conduct that a defense lawyer can seek to start to investigate and analyze before that hits.”
It’s worth reiterating that D4vd has not been accused or charged with a crime. But if he is, it sounds like he will be prepared.
