In the early morning hours of January 21, 2021, the life of 34-year-old Frederick Rooks was tragically cut short in the Panthersville area of Decatur, Georgia. Responding to a call of shots fired around 3:30 a.m., DeKalb County police discovered Rooks' body lying in the street at the intersection of Deep Shoals Circle and Corners Crossing. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his face and leg and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators found several bullet casings near his body.
Initially, there was no suspect in the shooting. However, the investigation quickly gained momentum as details emerged. Security camera footage from a nearby home captured a white BMW SUV fleeing the area at high speed shortly after the gunshots were heard. A crucial piece of information came from a family member who told officers that Rooks was last seen with his cousin, Ricky Lamar Hawk, who drove a white BMW SUV. Hawk, a 23-year-old rapper professionally known as Silento, was famous for his viral 2015 hit, 'Watch Me '.
The vehicle seen in the surveillance footage was also captured by a license plate reader camera in the vicinity on the morning of the murder. This evidence, coupled with the family member's statement, led investigators to identify Hawk as the primary suspect. On February 1, 2021, Ricky Hawk was arrested and charged with the murder of his cousin, Frederick Rooks. He was booked into the DeKalb County jail and held without bond. During an interview with investigators, Hawk admitted to shooting Rooks. Further investigation revealed that ballistics testing matched the bullet casings from the crime scene to a gun found in Hawk's possession at the time of his arrest, and GPS data from his SUV placed him at the location of the murder. While a definitive motive for the shooting was not publicly released, Hawk's publicist stated that he had been struggling with mental health issues for several years.
In August 2021, a grand jury indicted Hawk on four felony counts, including malice murder and felony murder. Ultimately, in June 2025, Ricky Hawk pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the death of his cousin.
