Silentó, an Atlanta-based artist, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2021 murder of his cousin.
The 27-year-old “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” star, real name Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement Wednesday, June 11.
In addition, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possession of a firearm while committing a crime, and concealing the death of another in connection with the death of his cousin, 34-year-old Frederick Rooks III.
According to the DeKalb County Police Department, officers arrived at the scene around 3:37 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2021, and discovered Rooks with multiple gunshot wounds near the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing in the Panthersville area.
By the time EMS arrived, Rooks had died. Investigators found ten bullet casings near his body.
A relative told police that Hawk and Rooks were last seen together after the rapper drove Rooks home from a friend’s house in a white BMW SUV.
The same vehicle was captured on a neighbor’s home security camera fleeing the scene at high speed minutes after the other residents heard the gunfire.
Hawk admitted to shooting his cousin on February 1, 2021, after being taken into custody.
Following the arrest, his public relations manager, Chanel Hudson, issued a statement requesting prayers for her client.
“Please send my client Silentó some positive vibrations,” she said, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. “Over the last few years, Ricky has been suffering greatly from a variety of mental health issues. We will continue his treatment efforts, but in the meantime, we ask that the public pray for him and his family with immediate positive energy!”
“Ricky is a beautiful soul, and we hope that the same people who came up whipping and nay-nay-ing with him will continue to support him and lift him up in prayer!! “God bless,” Hudson added.
Prior to Rooks’ fatal shooting in January 2021, Hawk was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly attacking two people with a hatchet.
Prosecutors allege that in August 2020, Silentó entered a Los Angeles-area home of people he did not know while looking for his girlfriend.
According to the Associated Press, during a 2019 appearance on the medical talk show The Doctors, Hawk discussed his mental health struggles.
“I’ve been fighting demons my whole life,” the artist stated.
“Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,” Silentó said. “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.”
