Ricky Lamar Hawk, better known by his stage name Silentó, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with the 2021 killing of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III.
The 27-year-old rapper, who rose to fame with the hit single “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” pleaded guilty but mentally ill to multiple charges, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another.
DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson handed down the sentence during a plea hearing earlier this week.
Hawk was arrested in February 2021 after police responded to reports of gunfire in the Panthersville area of DeKalb County. Officers arrived at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing to find Rooks dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators recovered ten bullet casings near the scene.
Surveillance footage from a nearby home captured a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the shooting. Authorities later connected the vehicle to Hawk, who had reportedly picked up Rooks earlier that night in the same SUV. Hawk eventually admitted to shooting his cousin.
Source: WSB-TV
