From Viral Dance Sensation to Convicted Killer: The Chilling Descent of Silentó, Whose Fame Became a Fatal Curse

In the history of pop culture, few phenomena capture the fleeting, intoxicating nature of internet stardom quite like Silentó’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” Back in 2015, the song was inescapable. It was the soundtrack to millions of childhood memories, a mandatory dance at every school talent show and party, and a global cultural moment shared across Facebook, YouTube, and the now-defunct Vine. Ricky Hawk, the Atlanta teenager behind the moniker, was only 17 when his independently uploaded track made the world dance. Overnight, he was elevated to the highest echelon of celebrity, a young artist with money, attention, and a life few could ever imagine.

But the dazzling ascent was tragically short-lived, concealing a profound and terrifying personal battle. Just a few short years after making millions feel pure, unadulterated joy, Silentó would become the subject of one of the decade’s darkest headlines: arrested and charged with the murder of his own cousin. The story of Silentó’s journey from viral sensation to convicted felon is a heartbreaking and urgent cautionary tale about the perils of sudden fame, the fragility of mental health, and the ultimate price paid when an artist’s inner turmoil is ignored in the blinding glare of the spotlight.

The Night the Music Died: A Crime in DeKalb County

The beginning of the end for the Silentó the world knew came in the pre-dawn hours of January 21, 2021. At approximately 3:30 a.m., law enforcement officers were called to Deep Show Circle in DeKalb County, Georgia, following a 911 call reporting gunshots. What they found was a scene of unspeakable tragedy: a man, later identified as 34-year-old Frederick Rooks, dead in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to the face and leg.

The initial investigation yielded little: ten shell casings scattered near the body, the echo of gunfire caught on nearby home surveillance systems, and a white BMW SUV seen speeding away from the intersection shortly after the shots rang out. There was no immediate suspect, no discernible motive—just the cold reality of a life violently taken.

But the police kept digging, canvasing the neighborhood for Ring video footage and following the scant leads they had. Just ten days later, the investigation zeroed in on a suspect no one could have predicted: Ricky Hawk, better known as Silentó. Investigators quickly uncovered a devastating familial link: Frederick Rooks was Silentó’s cousin. Ballistic evidence proved overwhelming; the shell casings at the scene matched a gun later found in Hawk’s possession. While a formal motive was never publicly disclosed—leaving a chilling, unanswered question about the final moments between the two men—prosecutors noted that Silentó admitted to firing the shots. On February 1, 2021, the former viral star was arrested and booked into the DeKalb County Jail, facing multiple felony counts, including malice murder and aggravated assault.

The Warning Signs: A Star’s Rapid, Violent Spiral

The murder, while shocking, was not an isolated incident but rather the tragic culmination of a public, rapid, and terrifying mental health spiral that had been unfolding for over a year. By 2020, Silentó’s career had stalled, and his behavior had become dangerously erratic.

His struggles with the law began in August 2020, with two arrests in a harrowing 48-hour period in California. He was first arrested in Santa Ana for a domestic disturbance involving his girlfriend. However, things escalated dramatically just one day later. Silentó reportedly showed up at a random home in Valley Village, wielding a hatchet and desperately searching for his girlfriend. He forced entry into the stranger’s house, terrifying a family and their young children inside. Although no one was physically hurt, the incident was a stark illustration of a mind rapidly losing its grip on reality, leading to charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

His behavior continued to degrade. In October 2020, weeks after his hatchet arrest, he was pulled over in Atlanta after being clocked driving an astounding 143 mph in a 65-mph zone. Body cam footage from the stop captured a star unraveling in real-time. Initially calm, Silentó grew increasingly paranoid, explaining his reckless speed by claiming, “people be following me everywhere I go.” He insisted that government entities were tracking him via satellite and that he received daily messages from Donald Trump on his phone. He was charged with reckless driving, speeding, and other traffic offenses, but the footage painted a clear picture of a man in the throes of a serious mental crisis. His run-ins with the law were no longer mere celebrity drama; they were desperate cries for help.

“I’ve Been Depressed My Whole Life”: A History of Trauma

To understand the darkness that consumed Silentó, one must look past the music videos and court records and into his documented psychological history. A year and a half before the final tragic events, Silentó had openly discussed his struggles on the television show The Doctors in 2019, revealing a history rooted in profound childhood trauma.

He revealed that he was born with drugs—marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and pills—in his system. He described growing up in an environment scarred by violence, where he witnessed family members engaging in alarming behavior, including “talk[ing] to walls and even try[ing] to kill each other.” He had battled depression since childhood, recalling how he was prescribed ADHD and sleeping pills as a young teen, which only made him skinnier and more stressed.

Silentó was articulate about how fame amplified these pre-existing demons. “Pressure doesn’t leave you when you become famous,” he told the show. “It just adds more pressure. And while everybody’s looking at you, they’re also judging you.” His publicist later confirmed the severity of his condition, noting that he had attempted suicide during the pandemic and that many of his public outbursts were symptoms of unmanaged bipolar episodes. The statement was a powerful attempt to humanize the individual behind the headlines, stressing that the ‘beautiful soul’ had been silently suffering for years while the world remained largely unaware.

The Final Chapter: Guilty But Mentally Ill

The years leading up to the trial saw Silentó’s defense team emphasize this long-documented history of mental health struggles, which ultimately played a significant role in the case’s final outcome.

In mid-2025, the case finally reached a conclusion that sought to balance accountability with understanding. On June 11, 2025, Ricky Lamar Hawk entered a plea of “Guilty but Mentally Ill” to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. This specific plea was a critical legal acknowledgment: it affirmed that Silentó was suffering from a mental illness, yet he still understood the nature and wrongfulness of his actions. It was an outcome that his attorney, Keith Adams, described as the first time since his arrest that Silentó was “fully aware of what had happened.”

The judge accepted the plea deal, sentencing Silentó to 30 years in prison, with credit for the four years he had already served awaiting trial. The original malice murder charge was reduced as part of the agreement, closing a painful chapter for both families and the public. As the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office detailed, the sequence was clear: Silentó picked up his cousin, Frederick Rooks, from a friend’s house earlier that night, and barely an hour later, surveillance showed the BMW speeding away from the scene.

The Cautionary Tale

The tragic story of Silentó will forever stand as a chilling reminder of the destructive power of instant, unmanaged fame, especially when paired with profound psychological fragility. He went from being a household name at age 17 to being sentenced to three decades behind bars by the age of 27. The contrast between the cheerful, energetic teen dancing on television and the man depicted in his recent mugshot—unrecognizable, aged two decades by the toll of his ordeal—is absolutely unreal.

His fate highlights a systemic failure to protect vulnerable young artists. Silentó blew up overnight, gaining a level of scrutiny and pressure that few people, let alone a troubled teenager, could handle. The spotlight, as the video’s narrator aptly observed, can build you up fast, but it can destroy you even faster. Without a solid foundation, the right guidance, and, most crucially, a robust support system to manage severe mental health issues, the pressure of global attention turned the blessing of fame into an absolute, very dark curse.

While the loss of his cousin, Frederick Rooks, remains the central and most devastating tragedy of the entire saga, the story of Silentó’s descent serves as a crucial, urgent lesson for the entertainment industry and the public alike: mental health crises are not isolated incidents that can be ignored until they become crimes. They are profound human struggles that, when left unaddressed in the intense vacuum of celebrity, can lead to the destruction of lives, careers, and the taking of another human being. The haunting question of why the murder occurred may never be answered, but the lesson of how the man was lost to his inner demons is starkly, brutally clear.