Day: November 24, 2025

Celeste Rivas‘ partially frozen and dismembered body has left the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner unable to determine a definitive cause of death.

The development that could complicate the homicide investigation involving rising Hip-Hop artist D4vd, according to sources cited by TMZ.

The 15-year-old’s remains were discovered inside the trunk of a Tesla linked to the 20-year-old singer, whose real name is David Burke. The vehicle had been parked for days on a residential street in the Hollywood Hills before being towed, at which point workers noticed a foul odor and made the grisly discovery.

Rivas’ body had been decapitated, her limbs severed and cut into pieces, and her torso left intact. Investigators say the body parts were “partially frozen” and had begun to thaw inside the car.

Forensic experts now face significant hurdles. The frozen state of the remains has damaged tissue and potentially erased key evidence.

Freezing remains can distort or destroy forensic evidence, including toxicology results and signs of trauma. Investigators believe the body was frozen deliberately to hinder the investigation and delay discovery.

“It will most likely be ‘undetermined,’” a source told TMZ, referring to the official cause of death. Initially labeled an “apparent homicide,” the condition of the body has made it nearly impossible to confirm how Rivas died.

Despite the lack of a medical determination, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division continues to pursue the case as a murder investigation. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that an arrest could still be made even without a confirmed cause of death.

The case has taken a darker turn with the revelation that authorities believe a second person helped D4vd dismember and dispose of Rivas’ body.

Attorney Mark Geragos appeared on the “2 Angry Men” podcast and said he “knows the name” of the alleged accomplice, who may have been involved “before, during, and after” the teenager’s death.

A key part of the investigation involves a suspicious trip D4vd allegedly took in spring 2025 to a remote area of Santa Barbara County. Sources say he was there for about two hours in the middle of the night.

Authorities suspect Rivas’ body may have been stored in a freezer at that location for months before being moved to Los Angeles.

Rivas vanished from her Lake Elsinore home in April 2024 at just 13 years old. Her family told police she had a boyfriend named David. Her remains were not found until September 8, 2025, the day after her 15th birthday.

The disturbing details of her relationship with D4vd have also surfaced. The two reportedly had matching tattoos on their right index fingers reading “Shhh.” Friends of the artist allegedly believed Rivas was 19, unaware she was a minor when they met.

D4vd, who gained fame through TikTok and amassed over 3.6 million followers, was on tour overseas when the body was discovered. He has since canceled his remaining U.S. and European shows and has not cooperated with investigators. His legal team has remained silent.

While the exact cause of death may remain unknown, authorities continue to build their case through digital evidence, witness interviews and forensic analysis.

The LAPD has not announced any arrests as of November 22, 2025.

​AllHipHop

What started as a $50 million lawsuit against Nelly has now become a costly lesson in legal consequences for the attorney who pushed the case too far.

The St. Louis Hip-Hop icon is demanding $78,007 in legal fees from lawyer Precious Felder Gates, who represented former St. Lunatics member Ali in what a federal judge has branded a completely “frivolous” lawsuit over Country Grammar royalties.

The tables have turned dramatically since Ali first accused Nelly of cutting his old crew out of credits and payments from the 2000 debut album that launched the rapper to superstardom. What Ali’s legal team thought would be a payday has instead become a cautionary tale about the risks of pursuing weak cases against well-funded defendants.

Nelly’s legal team, led by veteran music industry litigator Kenneth Freundlich, meticulously documented their work defending against what they called a baseless attack. The $78,000 tab breaks down to 142 hours of work.

“I believe that $78,007.50 is a reasonable fee for the services rendered by me and my colleagues in defending the action after November 25, 2024,” Freundlich wrote in court filings.

The case began unraveling almost immediately after it was filed. Three of the four St. Lunatics members quickly distanced themselves from the lawsuit, saying they never authorized the legal action and didn’t want to sue their former bandmate.

That left Ali standing alone with a case that was already on shaky legal ground.

The lawsuit alleged that Nelly had “manipulated” his former crew members into believing they would receive proper credit and royalties for their contributions to Country Grammar, the album that spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200 and spawned hits like “Country Grammar” and “E.I.”

But Nelly’s attorneys argued the claims were barred by the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations, since the album was released in 2000 and the lawsuit wasn’t filed until 2024. Faced with this obvious legal hurdle, Ali dropped the case entirely in April.

However, Nelly’s legal team wasn’t content to simply walk away.

They pushed for sanctions against Felder Gates, arguing that the case “should never have been brought” and represented the kind of “vexatious” litigation that exploits the expense and hassle of defending against frivolous claims.

Felder Gates continues to defend her firm’s conduct, telling Billboard she “acted with honest conviction that our client’s claims merited judicial consideration.”

She argued that her team held “a reasonable and well-supported belief that viable arguments existed to [extend] the statute of limitations.”

But the judge wasn’t buying those arguments. His ruling sends a clear message to attorneys who might consider filing questionable lawsuits against major artists: there will be consequences for pursuing cases that lack merit.

Felder Gates will have the opportunity to argue for a lower fine before the judge settles on a final amount, but the court’s order means she will eventually have to pay Nelly some portion of his legal costs.

​AllHipHop