Late in the night on March 30th last year, Camilla Sterling (24 years old), who dreamed of becoming a singer, stepped into the elevator heading towards VIP Room Ocean View 2805 at the Setai Hotel. She met David Bolno, a business partner of Scooter Braun who had previously worked with Post Malone, Drake, and others, in that room. A VIP ocean-view room at the luxurious Miami hotel costs $1,890 (about 43.6 million VND) per night. Bolno left in a Cadillac Escalade around 4:30 AM, and Sterling stayed behind.
When no one checked out of room 2805, around 8:30 AM the next day, hotel security knocked on the door. Upon opening it, they found Camilla Sterling unconscious, curled up in a fetal position in the bathtub. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Photos of the room at the time showed small plastic bags filled with pink powder—likely tusi, believed to be a mix of MDMA (ecstasy) and ketamine, and condom wrappers discarded in the trash.
The cause of death was determined to be a drug overdose.
Miami police initially investigated Bolno as a suspect but concluded that he cooperated and there were no further suspicions. Additionally, there were records showing that Sterling ordered room service after Bolno had left.
Bolno told the Daily Mail, “She was there because I had a recording session the night before. She was my client and was trying to sign a record deal with me. Nothing else.” (He declined to comment further.)
However, Bolno’s relationship with Sterling seemed more complex than his statement suggests. According to text messages confirmed by Business Insider, Bolno (a married man with two children) was paying the rent for Sterling’s $1.6 million (about 36 billion VND) apartment in Downtown Miami, and Sterling had told her real estate broker that Bolno was her “boyfriend.”
Friends testified that Sterling was dating a powerful figure in the music industry, but they only testified anonymously out of fear.
It’s clear that there was a power imbalance in the relationship between Bolno and Sterling. Sterling was much younger, a person of color, and financially dependent on Bolno, as well as on his connections in the music industry. While Bolno’s support could have opened doors for Sterling at lightning speed, since her death, Bolno has acted as though he had no connection to her and has built up his reputation online. On the other hand, most of Sterling’s life has been erased. All that remains are a few salacious tabloid headlines.
David Bolno has been the COO of HYBE America since 2024.