Perhaps Silento will be teaching his fellow inmates to do the "stanky leg." The man who brought us the 2015 viral hit "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for the 2021 shooting death of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The rapper, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in which he admitted to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime, and concealing the death of another, in exchange for having the murder charge dropped. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill.
Rooks was fatally shot in the face and leg outside a home near Decatur, Georgia, in the early hours of Jan. 21, 2021. A white BMW SUV was captured on surveillance video speeding away from the scene, per the AP. A relative of Rooks told police Silento had picked up the victim in a vehicle matching that description. And when police went to arrest Silento, they said he was carrying a gun that matched the bullet casings at the scene.
In the years before the shooting, Silento had gone public with his struggles with mental illness. "I've been fighting demons my whole life," he said in a 2019 interview. "Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure." His publicist, Chanel Hudson, said he had a suicide attempt in early 2020 before two arrests in California for domestic violence and gun charges. He allegedly swung a hatchet at two people, per the AP. Hudson said his suffering continued up until his arrest in Rooks' death. Rooks' siblings apparently hold little sympathy for Silento, telling the judge he should have gotten a longer sentence. He was sentenced to 30 years, with credit for time served since Feb. 1, 2021. (More Atlanta stories.)
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