<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Back in middle school, Rubi Alonso’s son was close friends with Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He was so broken the day he learned his friend had been found dead, Ms. Alonso recalled, that he had to be temporarily pulled out of school last fall.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Celeste grew up in Lake Elsinore, Calif., only about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles — a two-hour drive, give or take. But the area, in the western part of Riverside County, can at times feel a world away from the sheen of Hollywood, where her body was found.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Those who knew and loved her have had to endure the agony of a monthslong investigation into her death, detached from it all, with little information and even less closure.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">That is, until Thursday, when the police in Los Angeles <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/us/d4vd-charged-teen-death-tesla.html" title="">arrested</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/us/d4vd-charged-teen-death-tesla.html" title="">the musician D4vd</a> in connection with the death of Celeste, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/us/tesla-body-found-d4vd.html" title="">whose body was found in the trunk of his Tesla</a> one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The police have not offered details about their investigation or said what evidence led them to D4vd, whose real name is David Burke. Prosecutors say they are reviewing the case. And lawyers for Mr. Burke, 21, have said he is innocent, and he has not been charged.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“I know there will be justice up there,” Ms. Alonso said, with a gesture toward the divine. “But let there be justice here, too.”</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and <a href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F04%2F18%2Fus%2Fd4vd-arrest-celeste-hernandez-death.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">log into</a> your Times account, or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F04%2F18%2Fus%2Fd4vd-arrest-celeste-hernandez-death.html">subscribe</a> for all of The Times.</p><hr/></div><div class="css-1g71tqy" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-content"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-63woee" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-spinner" data-tpl="sp" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><g fill="currentColor"><path d="M11.28 22.8a.72.72 0 1 0 1.44 0v-6.72a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72Z" opacity=".37"></path><path d="M17.766 21.16a.72.72 0 1 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.436a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.437Z" opacity=".26"></path><path d="M1.506 14.653a.72.72 0 0 0 .445 1.37l6.391-2.078a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.369l-6.39 2.077Z" opacity=".61"></path><path d="M5.07 20.314a.72.72 0 0 0 1.164.847l3.95-5.437a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165-.846l-3.95 5.436Z" opacity=".48"></path><path d="M22.049 16.022a.72.72 0 0 0 .445-1.37l-6.391-2.076a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.39 2.076Z" opacity=".17"></path><path d="M22.494 9.347a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.37l-6.391 2.078a.72.72 0 1 0 .445 1.369l6.39-2.077Z" opacity=".09"></path><path d="M6.234 2.84a.72.72 0 0 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.436a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.437Z" opacity=".87"></path><path d="M1.951 7.978a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.391 2.076a.72.72 0 1 0 .445-1.37l-6.39-2.076Z" opacity=".74"></path><path d="M18.93 3.686a.72.72 0 0 0-1.164-.847l-3.95 5.437a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165.846l3.95-5.436Z" opacity=".02"></path><path d="M12.72 1.2a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72a.72.72 0 0 0 1.44 0V1.2Z"></path></g></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Already a subscriber? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="log-in-link" href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F04%2F18%2Fus%2Fd4vd-arrest-celeste-hernandez-death.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">Log in</a>.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Want all of The Times? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="subscribe-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F04%2F18%2Fus%2Fd4vd-arrest-celeste-hernandez-death.html">Subscribe</a>.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>