The day after a body was found in his car in Hollywood, singer D4vd was belting his TikTok hit Romantic Homicide - a brooding breakup song about killing an ex with no regret - to a sold-out crowd in Minneapolis.
The US recording artist had self-launched his music career from his sister's closet while working a part-time gig at Starbucks. It led him to viral fame, millions of followers online, and a global tour.
But all of it came to an abrupt halt last month with the discovery of a severely decomposed body in the front trunk of his Tesla.
The corpse was identified as that of 15-year-old runaway Celeste Rivas Hernandez. A month later, mystery still surrounds the teen's death, as well as her relationship to the 20-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke.
Deep dives into his macabre oeuvre - which is peppered with references to death, remembrance, violence and bloody motifs - have led some to question if life was imitating art and vice versa.
The young singer has yet to publicly comment on the case or the grim discovery in his car. His spokesperson has only said that he is fully cooperating with authorities and he has since hired a prominent criminal defence attorney who has represented celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West, and Britney Spears.
Police have also not named a suspect or person of interest in the case, even weeks after discovering her body.
The Los Angeles Police Department has not offered many details in the case or the probe, calling it an open death investigation. It's just such a strange one, Neama Rahmani, a former prosecutor and Los Angeles attorney, told the BBC. It keeps getting more bizarre each day that goes on without an arrest.
Rivas Hernandez - who lived about 75 miles away from where her body was discovered - had last been reported missing by her family in April 2024, but it was not the first time she had run away from their Lake Elsinore home.
When the teen's remains were found in a bag in D4vd's Tesla on 8 September, the medical examiner said that she was wearing a tube top, size small black leggings and jewellery, including a yellow metal stud earring and a yellow metal chain bracelet. She also had a tattoo that read Shhh… on her index finger - a marking nearly identical to that on the pop singer's own index finger.
As the investigation continues without firm conclusions, the music community and the public are left to ponder the connections between the teen's life and the star on the rise.
