A judge has sentenced Atlanta rapper Silentó to decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to killing his cousin.
The 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Ricky Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and other charges in connection with the 2021 deadly shooting.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2021, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded to a report of a person shot at a home off of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing.
At the home, police found 34-year-old Frederick Rooks III suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors told police that they heard gunshots and a security camera on a nearby home caught a white BMW SUV fleeing the scene shortly after the shots.
One of Rooks’ family members said that the victim was last seen with Silento, who picked him up from a friend’s home i a white SUV.
Investigators did not have a suspect at the time but later identified Hawk as the gunman.
After Silento was taken into custody, prosecutors say he admitted shooting Rooks. Bullet casings from the scene also reportedly matched a gun found on the rapper at the time of his arrest.
After his arrest, Chanel Hudson, Silento’s PR manager, released a statement that read:
“Please send my client Silentó some positive vibrations. 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 lifted in prayer!! God bless”
Silentó’s most popular song is “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” which was released in 2015 when he was just a junior at Redan High School in Stone Mountain. The song charted worldwide and even hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It also started a social media phenomenon of videos being posted with people dancing to the song.
The artist was featured on several tracks until his first full-length album came out in 2019 called “Fresh Outta High School.”
The rapper had previously been arrested in DeKalb County in 2020 after he was accused of driving 143 mph on Interstate 85. He was also charged the same year with trying to hit two people with a hatchet in their home in Los Angeles.
Silento had been in custody at the DeKalb County Jail since his arrest.
Following his plea, a DeKalb County Superior Court judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
S: Information for this story came from a release by the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
