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12th June 2025
08:40am BST
Silentó, rapper of the 2015 hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)', has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his cousin.
The 27-year-old, whose name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of voluntary manslaughter, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement, per People.
Hawk also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another in connection with the death of his cousin.
DeKalb County Police Department said they arrived on the scene at 3:37 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2021, and found Hawk's cousin, Frederick Rooks III, suffering multiple gunshot wounds at an intersection in the Panthersville area of Atlanta.
A relative said Hawk was last seen with Rooks when picking him up from a friend's home in a white BMW. The same vehicle was later seen fleeing the area at high speed on a neighbour's camera after the sound of gunshots.
He admitted to shooting his cousin on cousin in February 2021 after being taken into custody.
Chanel Hudson, Hawk's PR manager, 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 lifted in prayer!! God bless," she added.
