Ricky Lamar Hawk, better known as the 23-year-old Atlanta-based rapper Silento, has been indicted for the shooting death of his cousin. 

On Aug. 3, a Georgia grand jury charged the “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” rapper with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Billboard reported.

Frederick Rooks, Silento’s cousin, was killed on Jan. 21 in Dekalb County. An investigation into the 34-year-old’s death revealed that the rapper was a suspect, which then led to his arrest in Feb. 2021, TMZ reported.

XXL Magazine
reported that when officers arrived on the scene around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 21, Rooks was laying in an intersection bleeding heavily and had sustained injuries to his face and leg. 

One officer stated Rooks’ had a “faint pulse,” however, by the time paramedics arrived on the scene, he was pronounced dead. 

Although police haven’t released a motive, a representative for Silento told
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the rapper has been battling with mental illness for years.

This isn’t the first time Silento has had a run-in with the law, XXL Magazine reported.

In Sept. 2020, the rapper was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon after entering the wrong residence with a hatchet while in search of his girlfriend. He was apprehended by the homeowners of the residence and luckily no one was injured.  

The day prior, he was charged with inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant following a domestic dispute. 

In 2015, Silento became famous after his hit single “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” was released and watched nearly two billion times on YouTube, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

He said he released the song to prove to his haters that he could make it in the music industry after some doubted him because he lost to his peers during a high school talent show.  

The rapper has been in jail since the Feb. 2021 arrest and remains in police custody without bond.