Silentó, the artist who rose to fame with the 2015 hit "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2021 killing of his cousin.
The 27-year-old artist from Atlanta, whose real name is Ricky Hawk, entered a guilty but mentally ill plea on Wednesday to charges including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, firearm possession during the commission of a crime, and concealing a death. In exchange for his plea, a separate murder charge was dismissed, the Independent reported.
Silentó was taken into custody by DeKalb County authorities and accused of fatally shooting his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Roots III, in January 2021.
Police were alerted to a shooting in a suburban neighborhood near Decatur, Georgia, where they discovered Roots had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was unresponsive. He was declared dead at the scene.
Authorities reported recovering 10 shell casings near Roots' body. Surveillance footage from a neighboring residence captured a white BMW SUV quickly leaving the area shortly after the shots were fired.
A relative of Roots told investigators that Silentó had given him a ride in a white BMW SUV. GPS records and additional surveillance footage later placed the vehicle at the location where the shooting occurred.
About 10 days after the incident, Silentó admitted to the shooting after his arrest, according to police. Authorities also stated that ballistics analysis linked the recovered shell casings to a firearm found in his possession at the time he was arrested.
In 2015, while still a high school junior in suburban Atlanta, Silentó released "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," which quickly became a viral dance sensation. He went on to release several more albums, but none achieved the height of success of his hit single.
He revealed in a 2019 interview on the medical talk show "The Doctors" that he battled depression and was raised in an environment marked by mental health challenges and violence.
"I've been fighting demons my whole life," he said at the time. "Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure," Silentó said, urging others to get help. "And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you."
He added: "I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away."
In 2020, Silento was arrested when he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after swinging a hatchet at two people, and another time due to reckless driving allegations, according to the Independent.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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