A grand jury in Georgia has indicted local rapper Silento on murder charges in a case in which he allegedly killed his cousin early this year, according to reports.
Prosecutors claim that Silento — born Richard Hawk — helped gun down his cousin, Frederick Rooks, on January 21 in DeKalb County, Georgia, the Grio.com reported.
The “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” rapper was arrested in February and charged for the murder after police officers gathered surveillance video from the scene that they say showed the rapper driving away from the shooting with several other suspects.
“After a thorough investigation, DKPD detectives identified Hawk as Rooks’ cousin and the person responsible for Rooks’ murder,” said police spokeswoman Michaela Vincent.
The grand jury handed the rapper four felony charges, including one count of malice murder and one count of felony murder. He was also hit with assault and gun charges.
Hawks has a history of mental health issues and arrests. In August of 2020, for instance, he appeared armed with a hatchet at a stranger’s home in Los Angeles and demanded to see his girlfriend. One of the residents drew a legally owned firearm and disarmed the rapper. Hawks was soon arrested for the incident, but it turned out his girlfriend did not live at the address.
Hawk was charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the LAPD.
He also found landed in trouble with the law last October when he faced charges for reckless driving after being pulled over for driving 143 mph on an Atlanta highway. Hawk claimed he was trying to elude someone who was following him and used his celebrity to excuse the driving.
“If there is like 10 cars following me, I can do 143 because I am not a regular person, and you could go look on your computer and it would tell you that,” Hawk allegedly told the police at the time.
His last album, Fresh Outta High School, was released in August of 2018.
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