Overview
- The family filed a wrongful‑death complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday that names David Anthony Burke (D4vd), his mother, managers, business entities and a live‑in security guard as defendants.
- The civil suit incorporates evidence shown at a multiday July evidentiary hearing, including phone records, text messages and photos that prosecutors say document a yearslong sexual relationship beginning when the girl was a minor.
- Prosecutors have charged Burke with first‑degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, and authorities say Celeste’s decomposed body was found in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla on Sept. 8, 2025.
- Burke has pleaded not guilty, his earlier private attorneys withdrew and a public defender now represents him as the criminal case moves through scheduled status dates toward trial.
- The civil case aims to seek money damages and to extend legal exposure to family members and business entities, and the parents have publicly questioned Burke’s claimed indigency while urging the harshest criminal sentence including the death penalty.