Richard Lamar “Ricky” Hawk — who, under the stage name Silentó, had a #3 hit with the novelty dance track “Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)” — has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his cousin. Hawk, 27, pled guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, among other charges, for the 2021 shooting of Frederick Rooks III, Atlanta’s Fox 5 reports. A judge handed down the sentence.
Officers responded to a call in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2021. Rooks was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds. One of his other relatives said Rooks was last seen with Hawk, who picked him up from a friend’s home in a white SUV. Prosecutors say Hawk admitted to the shooting after being taken into custody, and casings from the bullets match a gun he was carrying at the time of his arrest.
In the year leading up to the murder, Hawk was arrested and charged with two other crimes, first for allegedly driving 143 mph on I-85 in DeKalb County, then for allegedly attacking two people with a hatchet at their home in Los Angeles.