Rapper Silentó sentenced in shooting death of cousin: ‘I pray for growth, ability to find forgiveness’
The “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” rapper, born Ricky Hawk, was sentenced for the 2021 fatal shooting of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III.
Rapper Silentó, born Ricky Lamar Hawk, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2021 fatal shooting of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III. Hawk, 27, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another on June 11 in DeKalb County, Georgia, according to People.
On Jan. 21, 2021, just before 4 a.m. DeKalb County Police found Rooks suffering from gunshot wounds in the Panthersville area, which is southeast of the city of Atlanta. Rooks was last seen alive leaving a friend’s house with Hawk in an SUV that was later seen fleeing from the scene of the crime. In February 2021, Hawk was taken into custody by the DeKalb County Police Department and admitted to the shooting.
Prior to his 2021 arrest for the fatal shooting of his cousin, he had a few other run-ins with authorities, including a 2020 assault on two people in Los Angeles with a hatchet.
In 2021, Hawk’s publicist, Chanel Hudson-O’Connor, released a statement alluding to her client’s struggles with mental health. “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!”
Hawk alluded to his own mental health struggles in a 2019 interview on a medical talk show where he said, “I’ve been fighting demons my whole life. Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure.” He continued, “I don’t know if I can truly be happy, I don’t know if these demons will ever go away.”
In a statement released after his guilty verdict, Hudson-O’Connor released a statement that included a message from Hawk about the verdict and what he hopes to find going forward.
“I will continue to make music and work on becoming the best possible version of myself. I can’t reverse time, but I can serve the time I’ve been given lawfully, and strive to positively contribute to whatever my new environment may be,” the rapper said in the statement. “I entered this industry as a teenager, often without proper guidance or direction. While that is not an excuse, it is part of my truth. I pray for growth, evolution, and the ability to find forgiveness—for myself and for this entire situation. God bless y’all.”
Hawk, performing as Silentó, is best known for his 2015 Billboard top 5 hit single, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” a song that created a dance phenomenon on social media and dance floors over the world.