Atlanta rapper Silentó gets 30 years after pleading guilty to killing his cousin
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Silentó, the Atlanta rapper known for his hit song 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the 2021 shooting death of his 34-year-old cousin.
The 27-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement.
Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.
DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said the found 10 bullet casings near Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots.
A family member of Rooks told police that Silentó had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting.
Silentó confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities said.
Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson before sentencing that Silentó should have gotten a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silentó made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show 'The Doctors' in 2019 that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence.
'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019.
'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silentó said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you."
'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.'
Silentó had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020.
In August 2020, Silentó was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he didn't know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed.
In October 2020, Silentó was arrested after police said they clocked him driving 143 miles per hour (230 kilometers per hour) on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County.
Hudson said at the time of Silentó's arrest in the killing of Rooks that he had been 'suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Israel-Hamas war: Israel recovers bodies of 2 hostages from Gaza; over 50 still held captive
Israel recovers bodies of 2 hostages from southern Gaza (AP) Israeli military confirmed the recovery of the bodies of two hostages from Gaza on Thursday. One of them was identified as Yair Yaakov, aged 59, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the recovery operation in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, as 'complex.' Yaakov's body was taken into Gaza after the October 7 attack. His partner and two children were also captured but were later released as part of a ceasefire deal. According to reports from the Associated Press, 148 hostages had been released through various exchanges and deals between Israel and Hamas. However, eight of those released were already dead. In addition, Israeli forces had retrieved the bodies of 46 hostages and successfully rescued eight others alive. The first phase of the ceasefire began on January 19 and involved several rounds of hostage-prisoner exchanges, but it collapsed after two months. On March 18, Israel resumed airstrikes in Gaza, effectively ending the truce. Currently, 53 hostages are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza. Of these, 30 are already dead according to Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had acknowledged uncertainty about the fate of several others. Among the hostages still held were four non-Israelis, two Thai nationals, one Tanzanian, and one Nepalese, three of whom had been confirmed dead. The war began after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli government figures.
NDTV
9 hours ago
- NDTV
US Rapper Silento, Best Known For Hit Song 'Watch Me Whip', Gets 30 Years In Prison For Killing Cousin
US rapper Silento, best known for his hit song 'Watch Me Whip', has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks III, in 2021. According to the New York Post, the 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to four charges, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during a felony crime, and concealing the death of his cousin. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. Voluntary manslaughter came with a 20-year prison sentence, while the firearm possession and concealment of death counts entail five years each. Hawk has been in jail since his February 2021 arrest, per the outlet. Silento is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. He rose to fame in 2015 with his debut song 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)'. The song sparked a global craze and racked up millions of views on YouTube. The track even peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2021, police found the rapper shot in the leg and face outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Cops said that they found 10 bullet casings near Rook's body, and the security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Mr Rooks reportedly told officials that Silento had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. The rapper then confessed to the crime 10 days later after he was arrested. The bullet casings found at the scene matched the gun Silento had when he was arrested, officials said. The prior year, Silento was charged while living in Southern California for allegedly threatening two people with a hatchet. He had been on bail after a recent arrest. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Hawk "walked into an unlocked stranger's home" and attempted to strike the two people in the home with a hatchet before one of them managed to disarm him." In 2020, the rapper was also arrested after police said they clocked him driving 143 miles per hour (230 kilometres per hour) on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County.
Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Indian Express
Billboard rapper Silentó sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his cousin; know who he is
Atlanta rapper Silentó, who rose to fame with his viral 2015 hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)', has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the killing of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III. The tragic incident unfolded on January 21, 2021, when Rooks was found shot multiple times outside a house near Decatur, Georgia. Investigators recovered 10 shell casings at the scene, and security camera footage later showed Silentó speeding away in a white BMW SUV. He was arrested weeks later in DeKalb County and charged with murder. Silentó, most known for his song/dance 'Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)', has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his cousin. — Pop Base (@PopBase) June 11, 2025 According to Silentó's publicist, Chanel Hudson, he had been battling serious mental health struggles leading up to the crime. She previously revealed that the rapper had attempted to take his own life in 2020, describing the period before his arrest as a downward spiral. This week, Silentó entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to charges including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, firearm possession during the commission of a crime, and concealing a death. A US court handed him a 30-year prison sentence for the killing, bringing a devastating chapter to a once-promising career to an end. Silentó, whose real name is Richard Lamar 'Ricky' Hawk, shot to fame in 2015 thanks to his viral hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)'. The track did not just dominate the Billboard charts–it set off a full-blown dance phenomenon around the world. The song's catchy hook and easy-to-learn moves turned it into a social media staple, with millions recreating the dance on platforms like YouTube and Vine. It even climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. After that meteoric rise, Silentó tried to build on his success. He teamed up with Punch in 2016 for a collaboration that won the World Collaboration Award at the Seoul Music Awards. That same year, he hit the road with Let's Dance: The Tour, riding the wave of his breakout moment. But his career soon unravelled amid mounting legal troubles. In 2017, a dispute over a contract left him stuck in the UAE, unable to leave the country for a time. Things only got worse by 2020, with a string of arrests ranging from domestic violence to assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving—marking a steep fall for the artist who once got the world to 'watch me whip, watch me nae nae'.
