Rapper Silento, best known for his 2015 viral hit Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the killing of his cousin, Frederick Rooks.
Silento, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, to several charges including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm, and concealing a death. His guilty plea came just days before he was scheduled to stand trial.
The 27-year-old admitted to shooting Rooks multiple times in February 2021, a crime prosecutors say he later confessed to during a police interview. Bullet casings found at the scene reportedly matched a gun recovered from Silento at the time of his arrest.
Though initially indicted for malice murder and felony murder, the manslaughter charge was a reduced version of the original indictment, with prosecutors dropping the felony murder count as part of the plea deal.
Silento’s legal team cited severe mental illness at the time of the crime, noting that he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder while in custody. A representative for the rapper said he had been “suffering immensely” from mental health issues when the incident occurred.
The court credited Silento with four years already served on remand since his arrest in 2021.