Silentó, Known for ‘Watch Me’ Hit, Gets 30 Years for Cousin’s Death
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Silentó, an Atlanta rapper best known for “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” will serve decades in prison after admitting to killing his cousin while mentally ill.
Weeks after his relative Frederick Rooks III was discovered shot several times at a DeKalb County residence, Silento was taken into custody.
The rapper acknowledged the shooting, according to the prosecution, and the bullets discovered at the scene matched the one he was carrying when he was taken into custody.
Rapper Silentó, who gained notoriety for his 2015 viral hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” confessed to charges involving his cousin’s murderous gunshot and was given a 30-year prison sentence.
The musician entered a guilty but mentally ill plea to charges related to the January 2021 shooting of Frederick Rooks. His real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk. The 27-year-old agreed to enter a guilty plea to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter rather than malice murder, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In addition, he entered a guilty plea to charges of concealing the death of another person, aggravated assault, and possessing a firearm while committing a felony. The plea deal included the dismissal of a separate criminal murder accusation.
With credit for time served since February 2021, Silentó will be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
When the DeKalb County Police Department discovered Rooks, 34, with gunshot wounds to his face and leg in January 2021, the Atlanta rapper was first taken into custody. At the scene, Rooks was declared deceased. Authorities linked bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, and he soon confessed to the crime.
Chanel Hudson, Silentó’s publicist at the time, revealed on social media that the rapper had been dealing with mental health problems after his imprisonment. She stated, “Ricky has been suffering greatly from a number of mental illnesses over the past several years.”
“We will keep up our treatment efforts, but in the interim, we ask that the public send him and his family instant prayers and good vibes!”
Since his arrest, Silento had been held at the DeKalb County Jail.
A judge in the DeKalb County Superior Court sentenced him to 30 years in jail after he entered a plea.
“Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” is Silentó’s most well-known song, and it was released in 2015 while he was only a junior at Redan High School in Stone Mountain.
In addition to charting globally, the song peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, it sparked a social media trend where videos of individuals dancing to the song were shared.
Prior to the release of his debut full-length album, “Fresh Outta High School,” in 2019, the musician was featured on a number of songs.
In 2020, the rapper was arrested in DeKalb County on charges of speeding on Interstate 85 at 143 mph. In the same year, he was also accused of attempting to strike two individuals in their Los Angeles house with a hatchet.
In the years that followed, he talked about his mental health issues, and Hudson said he had tried suicide in 2020. He had multiple run-ins with the law, including being arrested for domestic abuse in August 2020.
