Atlanta rapper Silentó gets 30-year sentence after guilty plea

A felony murder charge was dropped as part of negotiations.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with credit given for time served since Feb. 1, 2021.

Rooks’ body was found Jan. 21, 2021, lying on the road outside a home in the Panthersville area with gunshot wounds to his face and leg. Responding officers were able to gather video from multiple residents’ security cameras that showed several cars fleeing the scene at high speeds, and the footage captured at least one gunshot, according to the incident report.

Family members of both Hawk and Rooks spoke during the plea hearing.

“I’m sorry for both sides,” a family member told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson.

Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office

Rooks’ siblings said they feel Hawk’s sentence is not enough and should have been harsher, with Rooks’ sister saying she hopes his punishment lets him see his wrongdoing.

“We just want justice,” Rooks’ brother told Johnson.

Silentó was a junior at Redan High School in Stone Mountain when his single “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” was released.

The song charted worldwide, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s music video has been viewed more than 1.9 billion times on YouTube.

In a 2015 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the rapper said his moniker was because he believed in “less talk and more action.” During the interview, he had a message for those who doubted him.

“Now people are trying to talk to me, but I don’t really want to talk now. Even when I was right here, I used to have to pay to perform at places, like skating rinks and teen parties. I had to pay them to perform. And I find it interesting because now they call me up and want me to come for free and I’m not coming. They need to pay me, now," Hawk said.

However, his fame came with a price. In past interviews and through his publicist, the rapper has said pressure and judgment that came with the spotlight took a toll on his mental health.

In a 2021 interview with the AJC, Chanel Hudson, his publicist at the time, acknowledged Hawk’s struggles with depression and anxiety, adding he had not sought mental health treatment on a regular basis.

Hudson said she tried for years to humanize Hawk in the press, even getting him an interview on the daytime talk show “The Doctors” in May 2019, where he described his mental health struggles.

In describing his rough childhood, Hawk revealed he was born with marijuana, cocaine and heroin in his system. He detailed struggles with depression and anxiety.

“I’ve been fighting demons my whole life. My whole life,” Hawk said. “I saw family members talking to walls. I watched family members fight. I watched family members try to kill each other. Nobody should have to watch that.”

Hudson told the AJC in 2021, just after the shooting, that after the 2015 interview, Hawk failed to continue to put in the work to improve his mental health, which she called a warning sign.

Credit: Paras Griffin

Credit: Paras Griffin

Although his mental health was suffering, Hudson told the AJC the rapper was still performing throughout the world at high-paying appearances, but he reached a breaking point in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.

She said the rapper attempted suicide in early 2020. After that, he was arrested a few times, including two arrests in California for domestic violence and gun charges, and a speeding arrest in DeKalb County after driving at more than 140 mph on I-85.