Atlanta rapper Silentó has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for the aggravated manslaughter of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, and different fees associated to the 2021 capturing.
DeKalb County District Lawyer Sherry Boston introduced in a information launch on Wednesday that Silentó, born Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded responsible however mentally ailing to fees of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm in the course of the fee of a criminal offense, and concealing the dying of one other. Based on the Related Press, a homicide cost was dropped as a part of a plea settlement.
For individuals who are unfamiliar with the downfall of the “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” artist and the violent dying of his cousin, right here’s a fast rundown as reported by AP:
DeKalb County police discovered Frederick Rooks III shot within the leg and face within the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2021 outdoors a house in a suburban space close to Decatur. Police stated they discovered 10 bullet casings close to Rooks’ physique, and safety video from a close-by house confirmed a white BMW SUV rushing away shortly after the gunshots.
A member of the family of Rooks informed police that Silentó had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS information and different cameras put the car on the web site of the capturing.
Silentó confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police stated. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities stated.
In 2020, Silentó, who was a highschool junior in 2015 when he launched his “Watch Me” smash hit, had been concerned in plenty of run-ins with the regulation, a few of which concerned violence allegedly threatened or dedicated in opposition to others.
In August 2020, he was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a home violence cost. The following day, in Los Angeles, he was charged with assault with a lethal weapon after witnesses stated he entered a stranger’s house on the lookout for his girlfriend, who wasn’t there, and swung a hatchet at two individuals earlier than he was disarmed.
In 2019, he made an look on the medical discuss present The Docs, the place he mentioned combating melancholy and witnessing violence and psychological sickness amongst his relations rising up.
“I’ve been combating demons my entire life, my entire life,” he stated.
