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2015 Soul Train Music Awards - Arrivals

Source: DJDM/WENN.com / WENN

Silento, best known for the hit song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” was arrested Monday (February 1) and charged with murder in the shooting death of his cousin.

Per authorities, the 23-year-old rapper (real name Ricky Lamar Hawk) was arrested after police investigated the death of 34-year-old Frederick Rooks. Hawk was booked into the DeKalb County jail according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on one charge of murder.

Police responded to gunfire around January 21 and found Rooks dead at the scene due to multiple gunshot wounds. Officers were able to obtain video from nearby residents’ security cameras and following the shooting, multiple cars fled the scene at high speeds with one scene depicting at least one gunshot. Eight shell casings were collected at the scene and after a brief investigation, authorities determined Silento was the shooter.

The rapper has been in numerous legal instances in the past few months, including a string of arrests in August 2020 and October 2020. He was arrested twice on domestic violence and gun charges in California then two months later, he was arrested in Atlanta after reportedly driving 140 miles per hour on the freeway.

He became a global star in 2015 with the release of “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” which has been viewed more than 1.5 billion times on YouTube.

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Rapper Silento Arrested, Charged With Murdering His Cousin In Georgia  was originally published on theboxhouston.com