Silentó Sentenced to 30 Years After Pleading Guilty in Cousin’s 2021 Killing

Decatur, Ga. — Silentó, the Atlanta rapper who rose to viral fame with his 2015 hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III.

Now 27, Silentó—whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk—entered the plea Wednesday in DeKalb County Superior Court. In addition to voluntary manslaughter, he also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, gun possession during a felony, and concealing a death. A murder charge was dropped as part of a negotiated plea deal, according to District Attorney Sherry Boston.

The fatal shooting happened in the early morning hours of January 21, 2021, outside a home near Decatur. Police found Rooks, 34, shot in both the leg and the face, with ten bullet casings scattered near his body. Security camera footage showed a white BMW SUV fleeing the area shortly after the gunfire. Investigators later confirmed the vehicle matched one Silentó had been driving. GPS data and surveillance footage also placed him at the scene.

According to authorities, Silentó confessed to the killing about ten days after his arrest. Ballistics tests matched shell casings at the scene to a firearm in his possession at the time.

Rooks’ family members, speaking at the sentencing hearing, expressed frustration with the outcome and said the 30-year sentence was too lenient.

A Rise to Fame, Followed by a Downward Spiral

Silentó was just a high school junior in suburban Atlanta when “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” exploded into a cultural phenomenon. But behind the viral success, he faced lifelong struggles with mental illness and trauma.

In a 2019 interview on The Doctors, Silentó opened up about battling depression and growing up in a household marked by violence and mental health issues.

“I’ve been fighting demons my whole life,” he said.
“Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous—it just adds more pressure. And while everybody’s looking at you, they’re also judging you.”

He admitted he wasn’t sure if he could ever truly be happy or free from his inner struggles.

According to his publicist, Chanel Hudson, Hawk attempted suicide in 2020 and had been “suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses” leading up to his cousin’s death.

Prior Incidents and Legal Trouble

The rapper’s mental health appeared to be deteriorating in the months before the shooting. In August 2020, he was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in Los Angeles after allegedly breaking into a stranger’s home and swinging a hatchet at two people while searching for his girlfriend.

Just two months later, in October 2020, Georgia authorities arrested Silentó after clocking him driving 143 miles per hour on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County.

The Bigger Picture

Silentó’s story is a tragic intersection of fame, mental illness, and violence. What began as a viral dance craze ended in a prison sentence and a grieving family. His case has raised ongoing conversations about the need for better mental health support, especially for young people in the spotlight.

While justice has been served in the legal sense, the human toll of Silentó’s unraveling continues to ripple far beyond the courtroom.