Silentó, the rapper behind the hit "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his own cousin.
On Wednesday, June 11, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced the artist, born Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to three decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, in 2021. According to Boston's statement, the 27-year-old Georgia native pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another.
On January 21, 2021, police discovered Rooks with multiple gunshot wounds and 10 gun shell casings near his body at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing in the Panthersville area. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Security camera footage from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away from the crime scene shortly after the shots were fired. Rooks' family member told police Silentó had picked him up from a friend's house in the white BMW SUV earlier that night.
Police arrested the one-hit wonder over a week after the incident. They were able to match the bullet shell casing to a gun they found on the artist when he was arrested. The GPS in his car also placed him at the time and place of the shooting. During an interview with detectives, Silentó admitted he shot Rooks after suffering from a mental health crisis that stemmed from his childhood.