"Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" rapper Silentó has been handed a 30-year sentence in the January 2021 murder of his cousin.
According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the 27-year-old artist, born Lamar "Ricky" Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and firearm possession while committing a crime, along with concealing a death involving the killing of Frederick Rooks III.
On January 21, 2021, the DeKalb County Police Department found Rooks with multiple gunshot wounds at 3:37 a.m. Several individuals in the neighborhood said they heard gunshots, with surveillance footage showed a white BMW speeding off after shots were fired.
Family members told police that Rooks was last seen with Hawk, with the rapper picking him up from a friend's home in the vehicle.
After his arrest in February 2021, Hawk's publicist, Chanel Hudson, called for "positive vibrations" in support of her client and claimed he'd been "suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses."
