US | Fortnite offering refunds for D4vd products after child murder charge

Singer, 21, could face death penalty after being charged with murder of 14-year-old

Video game Fortnite is approving refunds for any D4vd cosmetics after the singer, 21, was charged with the sexual abuse, murder and mutilation of a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The game first collaborated with D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, in 2024, initially releasing an emote to his track “Feel It” before releasing Fortnite’s first official anthem with Burke, titled “Locked and Loaded”, the following year.

Now, Fortnite’s developer Epic Games has confirmed that players who previously bought the items will be given their money back. Responding to a post on X about the D4vd game cosmetics, Fortnite’s player support account responded: “We hear the concerns.

“We have a bunch of changes we’re rolling out over time. The first one will be available on Tuesday April 28th, when anyone who purchased one of these items will be able to get an immediate self-service refund. And, right now, players who request refunds for D4vd cosmetics via player support can be refunded.”

It marks the first time that Fortnite has publicly announced refunds for a celebrity’s products in the game. The D4vd-related items that were available to buy in the Fortnite item shop include the “Feel It” emote – dances or gestures that characters can perform in the game – his track “What Are You Waiting For” and his Fortnite anthem, “Locked and Loaded”. Each cost 500 V-Bucks, which is the equivalent of £3.50.

Burke, whose career took off after he began posting Fortnite gaming montages with his own music online, was charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez last week after her dismembered body was found in the trunk of his apparently abandoned Tesla in September in the Hollywood Hills.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Monday (20 April) that Burke had been charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14, and mutilating a body in the killing of Rivas Hernandez. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently being held on bail.

“I am a parent of three children, and a parent's nightmare is a situation where your daughter goes out one night and never comes back, as we will show in a court of law,” Hochman said at the time.

Burke’s charges could carry the death penalty if he’s convicted as they include special circumstances of lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation.

Source: independent.co.uk, Loren Morris, April 28, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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