Rapper Silento has been charged with murder over the shooting of his cousin, authorities have said.
Officers from the DeKalb County Police Department arrested the 23-year-old music star, real name Ricky Hawk, in Georgia on Monday and placed him in custody.
It comes following the death of Frederick Rooks, 34, who the police found with gunshot wounds on 21 January.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper previously reported that police responded to a call of hearing gunshots at about 3:30 am on 21 January; in the community of Panthersville in DeKalb County.
Silento is most popular for the viral song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), released in 2015. He had posted on Instagram just a few hours before the police made their statement.
In September 2020, the hip hop star faced multiple assault charges after allegedly attacking two strangers with a hatchet in Los Angeles. The rapper claimed he had been looking for his girlfriend… with a hatchet.
He allegedly walked into a stranger’s unlocked home and attacked two people before one of them disarmed him; according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A day prior, the police arrested Silento in Santa Ana and took him to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; following a report of a domestic disturbance. The police released Silento from custody on a charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant.
