Atlanta rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for killing his cousin

DEKALB COUNTY, GA—Atlanta rapper Silento–Ricky Lamar Hawk, 27—was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday (June 11) for the Jan. 21, 2021 shooting death of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, 34. 

Hawk, whose 2015 song, “Watch Me (Whip Nae Nae)” created a dance craze that went viral, was scheduled to stand trial this week but instead took a plea deal, downgrading his charges of malice murder charges. 

Hawk 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 in connection with the death, DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston said. 

Hawk was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder while in jail, according to court filings.

Attorney Keith Adams, who represented Hawk, told On Common Ground News during an interview late Wednesday that his client has been battling mental illness since childhood. 

 “Ricky, unfortunately, has a family history of mental illness. He himself has been battling mental illness since he was 12. He thought that his family had taken him from his real family. He was delusional,” said Adams.

Adams said Hawk shot his cousin because he thought Rooks was setting him up to be robbed. The reason the case took so long to come to a close is that he initially was not competent enough to stand trial. 

“The benefit of the plea deal is that the Department of Corrections has been instructed to put him in a place where his mental illness can be treated,” Adams said. 

Hawk will get credit for the four years he has already spent behind bars since his arrest, Adams said. 

According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded around 3:37 a.m. on Jan. 2121, 2021 to a report of a person shot at the intersection of Deep Shoals Ciron le and Corners Crossing in the Panthersville area. Officers found Rooks suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. EMS arrived and confirmed that Rooks was deceased. Ten bullet casings were found near the victim’s body.

Several neighbors in the area heard gunshots, and security camera footage from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV fleeing the area at a high rate of speed just a few minutes after the gunfire.  

A family member of the victim told officers that Rooks was last seen with his cousin, Hawk, who had picked Rooks up from a friend’s home in a white BMW SUV. The vehicle in question was captured by a FLOCK camera at the intersection of Panthersville Road and Flat Shoals Road at 2:45 a.m. that same morning.

Hawk was taken into custody on Feb. 1, 2021. During an interview with investigators, Hawk admitted to shooting Rooks. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings recovered from the scene of the shooting to a gun found with Defendant Hawk at the time of his arrest. Additionally, GPS data for Hawk’s white BMW SUV placed the vehicle at the scene of the murder.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson, who presided over the plea hearing, handed down the sentence.

The case, assigned to the Homicide and Gangs Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Helen Pott, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Thomas Williams, District Attorney Investigator Curtis Averhart, and Victim Advocate Kaysha Albritton. DeKalb County Police Department Detective B.R. Smith led the initial investigation.