Latest news with #FrederickRooks
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)' rapper Silentó gets 30 years after pleading guilty to killing his cousin
DECATUR, Ga. — 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.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)' rapper Silentó sentenced to 30 years in cousin's murder, lawyer speaks out
The rapper Silentó, known for his viral hit "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in the 2021 shooting death of his cousin. Ricky Lamar Hawk, 27, who performs as Silentó, entered the plea on Wednesday for charges including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and concealing the death of another, according to DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston. "This was not a crime of passion or a crime of a morally depraved person. He was mentally ill," Hawk's attorney, Keith Adams, told ABC News. "Unfortunately, Ricky's mental illness has been an issue since the age of 12, even during his success as an artist and beyond." The charges stem from the Jan. 21, 2021, shooting of Frederick Rooks III, 34, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing in the Panthersville area of unincorporated Decatur, Georgia. According to police, several neighbors reported hearing gunshots, and security footage captured a white BMW SUV fleeing the scene. MORE: Baby dies in sweltering car as temperatures hit 90 degrees, foster parent faces charges Authorities say a family member shared that Hawk had picked up Rooks in the same BMW SUV from a friend's home shortly before the incident. Police later matched bullet casings from the scene to a gun found in Hawk's possession, and GPS data placed his vehicle at the location of the shooting, the DeKalb County Police Department said. "The benefit of him pleading to voluntary manslaughter is that it makes him eligible for parole sometime within the next decade or so," Adams explained. "If he had been convicted of murder, he would not have been eligible for parole for at least 30 years." Due to the nature of his plea, Hawk will likely be placed in a facility equipped to address his mental health needs. "His plea of guilty but mentally ill acknowledges his mental illness, and it instructs the Department of Corrections to place him not in a regular prison, but in a facility that will treat his mental illness," Adams said. Hawk will be transferred to the Georgia Diagnostic Center in Jackson, Georgia, located about an hour outside Atlanta, where all state prisoners undergo initial processing. According to Adams, officials there will determine his permanent placement among the state's specialized mental health facilities. "I'm hoping that he won't be at the Diagnostic Center for too long, because they're already familiar with his mental health issues," Adams said. "I expect within the next month to two months, he'll be placed where he's supposed to be." Adams expressed hope for his client's future. "No one is beyond redemption... I think he has an opportunity to come out and resume his position as a productive member of society, while properly being treated for his mental health." 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)' rapper Silentó sentenced to 30 years in cousin's murder, lawyer speaks out originally appeared on
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Rapper behind giant hit song sentenced to 30 years in prison
Rapper Silentó will spend 30 years in prison for shooting his cousin to death in 2021. Silentó, real name Ricky Hawk, is best known for his viral 2015 song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). Hawk, 27, 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, The Sun reports. The Atlanta rapper was originally indicted on a felony charge of malice murder, but took a plea deal for lesser charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Hawk shot his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, dead early on the morning of January 21, 2021. Rooks, 34, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his face and leg. It is still unclear what led up to the shooting. Home security camera footage from the scene caught several cars speeding away and captured at least one gunshot, cops said. Hawk admitted to the shooting in an interview with investigators several days after it occurred, according to the DeKalb district attorney. Bullet casings found at the scene also matched a gun Hawk had when he was arrested. At the sentencing on Wednesday, Rooks' siblings said Hawk's sentencing should have been harsher. 'We just want justice,' Rooks' brother told the judge, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. In 2021, Hawk's manager released a statement after his arrest asking fans for their support. 'Please send my client Silentó some positive vibrations,' the manager, Chanel Hudson, said at the time. 'Over the past several years, Ricky has been suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses. 'We will continue in his efforts of treatment, but we ask in the meantime the public uplift him and his family in immediate prayer and positive energy!! 'Ricky is a beautiful soul, and we hope that the same people who came up whipping' & nay nay-in with him, continue to support him and lifted in prayer!! God bless.' Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) was released when Hawk was just a junior in high school in Stone Mountain, Georgia, near Atlanta. The song charted globally and started a social media trend of people doing a dance associated with the song. Hawk's first full-length album came out in 2019. The next year, Hawk was arrested twice – once for driving 143 miles per hour on the highway and another time for breaking into a random home in Los Angeles with a hatchet. Hawk's sentence includes credit for the time he's served in DeKalb County Jail since February 1, 2021.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
‘Watch Me' rapper Silentó gets 30 years for 2021 cousin murder
Rapper Silentó, best known for his viral 2015 hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to the fatal shooting of his cousin, Frederick Rooks. The 27-year-old artist, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to multiple charges, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and concealing the death of another. As part of a plea agreement, the original malice murder charge was reduced, and a felony murder charge was dropped. The fatal incident occurred in January 2021 in DeKalb County, Georgia. Rooks, 34, was found shot in the face and leg and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ballistic evidence linked Silentó to the crime, and he confessed shortly after his arrest. Silentó will serve 30 years in prison, with credit for time served since February 2021. His legal team emphasized his mental health struggles, which had been publicly acknowledged by his former publicist, who previously stated the rapper had suffered from multiple mental health conditions and attempted suicide in 2020. The Atlanta rapper skyrocketed to fame in 2015 with his dance anthem 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, in the years that followed, he faced a series of legal troubles, including arrests for domestic violence and reckless driving. This tragic case highlights the intersection of mental health issues and criminal justice, closing a dark chapter in Silentó's once-promising career.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Rapper Silentó receives MAJOR sentence after guilty plea in cousin's death
A 27-year-old Atlanta rapper was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of his cousin more than four years ago. Silentó, whose full name is Ricky Lamar Hawke, was sentenced in DeKalb County Court in Decatur, Georgia in the January 2021 death of Frederick Rooks. Silentó had been sentenced after he enter a guilty but mentally ill plea to firearm possession, aggravated assault and concealing one's death in connection with Rooks' death. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a felony murder charge against the entertainer as part of a plea deal, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Silentó had been sentenced after he enter a guilty but mentally ill plea as part of a deal he hammered out with prosecutors, the newspaper reported. Initially charged with malice murder, the musical artist wound up with a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter. Silentó also entered guilty pleas to firearm possession, aggravated assault and concealing one's death in connection with Rooks' death. In the tragic case, prosecutors said that the lifeless body of the rapper's cousin was recovered in the Panthersville region of Georgia on the side of the road. Official said that Rooks had suffered gunshots to his face and leg. Local security cameras caught multiple vehicles leaving the area rapidly, according to police. Relatives spoke about the tragedy following Wednesday sentencing in Georgia, the paper reported. One told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson, 'I'm sorry for both sides.' Rooks' brother told the judge that they just wanted justice, the paper reported. The victim's sister said she hopes Silento comes to understand the gravity of his actions during his three-decades in custody. Silentó went viral with a dance single 10 years ago titled Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), which was closing in on nearly two billion YouTube views as of Wednesday. Silentó had established a firm social media base amid his surge to fast fame, as his X account had more than 72,9000 followers under the handle @TheRealSilento . His last tweet came in October of 2019, more than a year before the tragic incident that preceded Wednesday's sentence.
