Platinum-selling rapper gets 30 years in prison for killing cousin in 2021
Silentó, the rapper known for his 2015 smash single 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his cousin in Georgia four years ago.
DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson sentenced Silentó, 27, on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and concealing the death of another in connection with the shooting death of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks III, on Jan. 21, 2021. A felony murder charge was dropped, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The shooting occurred at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing in Panthersville, Georgia, around 3:37 a.m., according to the Office of the DeKalb County District Attorney.
Responding officers found Rooks suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Ten bullet casings were found near his body as well, investigators discovered.
Several neighbors told authorities they heard gunshots that night while a white BMW SUV was caught leaving the scene a few minutes after the gunfire. One of Rooks' family members told police that he was last seen with his cousin, who had picked Rooks up from a friend's home in a white BMW SUV.
Silentó, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was arrested on Feb. 1, 2021. After his arrest, Hawk's publicist at the time, Chanel Hudson, said the rapper had been dealing with mental health issues.
'Please send my client Silentó some positive vibrations,' Hudson wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
'Over the past several years, Ricky has been suffering immensely from a series of mental illnesses. We will continue in his efforts of treatment, but we ask in the meantime the public [to] uplift him and his family in immediate prayer & positive energy,' Hudson wrote. 'Ricky is a beautiful soul, and we hope that the same people who came up whippin' and nay naying with him, continue to support him and lifted in prayer. God bless.'
The rapper admitted to shooting Rooks during an interview with investigators, the district attorney's office said.
In addition, the bullet casings found at the crime scene matched the gun found in Hawk's possession at the time of his arrest. GPS data for Hawk's white BMW SUV also placed the vehicle at the scene of the killing.
Hawk has been in custody at the DeKalb County Jail since his arrest. It is unclear where he will serve his sentence.
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