Credit: Silentó

Atlanta rapper Silentó has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars for murdering his cousin. The 27-year-old (real name Ricky Lamar Hawk) pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter on June 11th.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced the conviction after Hawk pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. As part of the plea agreement, a murder charge was dropped.

34-year-old Frederick Rooks III was shot in the leg and face outside a house on January 21st, 2021. Silentó was arrested and confessed to the murder 10 days later, with police matching bullet casings from his gun, along with his BMW SUV, through security footage.

Silentó is best known for his hit single ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)‘, which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Released on Capitol Records, the music video boasts over 1.9 billion YouTube views and a further 412 million streams on Spotify.

Hawk opened up about struggling with depression during a 2019 interview. “I’ve been fighting demons my whole life,” he said. “Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure. And while everybody’s looking at you, they’re also judging you. I don’t know if I can truly be happy, I don’t know if these demons will ever go away.”

Following the murder charges, his PR manager, Chanel Hudson, addressed Hawk’s mental health issues and asked fans for their prayers.

“Please send my client Silento some positive vibrations,” she wrote. “Over the past several years, Ricky has been suffering immensely from a series of mental 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 & positive energy!!”

She added, “Ricky is a beautiful soul, and we hope that the same people who came up whippin’ and nay naying with him, continue to support him and lifted in prayer. God bless.”