Silento’s 30-Year Sentence: Plea, Mental Illness, and Parole

Silento, the Atlanta rapper born Ricky Lamar Hawk, accepted a plea deal on June 11, 2025, that produced his 30-year sentence for the 2021 shooting of his cousin Frederick Rooks III. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter and three related counts in DeKalb County Superior Court, and in exchange prosecutors dismissed the original murder charges. The arrangement locked in a 30-year prison term with a mandate for mental health treatment, while preserving the possibility of parole roughly a decade in.

What Silento Pleaded To

Before Judge Courtney Johnson, Hawk entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to four charges: voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another.¹ The original 2021 indictment had charged him with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and a firearm count.² Under the plea, the murder charges were dropped.³

Judge Johnson imposed a 30-year prison sentence, with credit for the time Hawk had already served since his February 2021 arrest.⁴

Why Voluntary Manslaughter Instead of Murder

The charge reduction was the heart of the deal, and defense attorney Keith Adams described it in frankly practical terms. A murder conviction in Georgia would have required Hawk to serve at least 30 years before any parole consideration. By pleading to voluntary manslaughter, he could become eligible for parole “within the next decade or so,” Adams said.⁵

Adams also pressed the mental illness framing. “This was not a crime of passion or a crime of a morally depraved person,” he said. “He was mentally ill.”⁵

What Guilty but Mentally Ill Means in Georgia

A plea of guilty but mentally ill is not the same as a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, and the distinction matters for where Hawk serves his time. Someone found not guilty by reason of insanity is committed to a state mental health facility and may eventually be released once no longer deemed dangerous. Someone who pleads guilty but mentally ill is sentenced like any other guilty defendant and placed in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections.⁶

The difference the plea does make is a treatment mandate. The Department of Corrections must evaluate and address the defendant’s mental health needs and, at its discretion, may transfer the person to a facility run by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for temporary hospitalization. If inpatient care is no longer clinically needed, the defendant returns to a standard correctional facility to finish the sentence.⁶ According to Adams, the plea ensures Hawk will be housed in a facility equipped to treat his condition rather than a regular prison.⁵

The Mental Health Record Behind the Plea

The mentally ill portion of the plea was not a sudden claim. Adams said Hawk’s mental health problems dated to age 12.⁵⁷⁸

His publicist disclosed in 2021 that Hawk had attempted suicide the year before and was “suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses.”⁹ Reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution added depression, anxiety, and substance use involving heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the picture.⁴

The Killing That Led to the Charges

In the early morning of January 21, 2021, DeKalb County officers found Frederick Rooks III, 34, shot multiple times at an intersection in the Panthersville area near Decatur. Investigators recovered ten bullet casings at the scene.¹⁰ A white BMW SUV captured on neighborhood and license-plate reader cameras was tied to Hawk, who had picked Rooks up that night. Ballistics later matched casings from the scene to a firearm in Hawk’s possession when he was arrested on February 1, 2021, and GPS data from his vehicle placed it at the shooting location.³ During the investigation, Hawk admitted to shooting Rooks.¹¹

Where He Serves the Sentence and When Parole Is Possible

After sentencing, Hawk was transferred to the Georgia Diagnostic Center in Jackson for initial processing. Adams said officials there were expected to determine his permanent placement among the state’s specialized mental health facilities within one to two months.⁵

Parole in Georgia is not automatic at any set date. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles uses a guidelines system that weighs the severity of the crime against the offender’s risk of reoffending and produces an individualized recommendation, expressed as months or a percentage of the sentence to serve.¹² Most felony sentences carry parole eligibility after one-third of the term, though risk classification can push the actual timeline well past that mark. Adams has said he expects Hawk could become parole-eligible within roughly a decade.

The Family’s Response

The brothers and sisters of Frederick Rooks III appeared in court at sentencing and told the judge they believed 30 years was too short.⁹

1
DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. State v. Ricky Lamar Hawk
2
NBC News. Rapper Silento Indicted by Georgia Grand Jury for Murder of His Cousin
3
CBS News. Silento Ricky Lamar Hawk Sentencing in Cousin’s Death
4
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta Rapper Silento Gets 30-Year Sentence After Guilty Plea
5
ABC News. Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) Rapper Silento Sentenced to 30 Years
6
FindLaw. Georgia Code Section 17-7-131
7
New York Daily News. Rapper Silento Denied Bond in Murder Case
8
Complex. Silento Remains in Jail After Judge Denies Bail Request
9
New York Post. Atlanta Rapper Silento Gets 30 Years After Pleading Guilty to Killing His Cousin
10
WSB-TV. Lithonia Rapper Silento Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Cousin’s Shooting Death
11
FOX 5 Atlanta. Rapper Silento Sentenced 30 Years for 2021 Death of Cousin in Metro Atlanta
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Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Parole Consideration Eligibility Guidelines