Silentó Sentenced to 30 Years for Cousin’s Killing
Silentó, known for “Whip/Nae Nae,” gets 30 years after fatally shooting his cousin. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill.
Ricky Lamar Hawk—better known as Silentó, the artist behind the viral hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)”—has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2021 killing of his cousin, 34-year-old Frederick Rooks III.
The Atlanta-based rapper pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, according to DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, who announced the sentence on Wednesday, June 11. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another.
Police responded to the Panthersville area of Georgia around 3:37 a.m. on January 21, 2021. There, they found Rooks with multiple gunshot wounds at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators recovered 10 bullet casings near his body. A relative told police that Hawk had picked Rooks up earlier that night in a white BMW SUV. That same vehicle was seen on a neighbor’s security footage speeding away from the scene shortly after gunfire was heard.
Hawk later admitted to shooting his cousin after being taken into custody on February 1, 2021.
Before the shooting, Hawk had been involved in another violent incident. In August 2020, he was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly entering a Los Angeles-area home—belonging to strangers—and attacking two people with a hatchet while looking for his girlfriend.
He had also publicly spoken about his mental health battles. In a 2019 interview on The Doctors, Hawk shared:
“I’ve been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,” “Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,” he 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.”
After Hawk’s arrest, his publicist Chanel Hudson released a statement through Fox 5 Atlanta asking for understanding:
“Please send my client Silentó some positive vibrations,” she said.
“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 [keep him] lifted in prayer!! God bless.”
