“Watch Me (Ship/Nae Nae)” rapper Silento was indicted on four charges by a Georgia grand jury on Aug. 3 in connection with the shooting death of the MC’s cousin earlier this year. According to the DeKalb County Superior Court’s bill of indictment obtained by Billboard, Silento (born Ricky Lamar Hawk) was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
TMZ was first to report on the indictment.
The Atlanta MC, 23, was arrested in February for the murder of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks. On Jan. 21, police responded to a 3:30 a.m. call regarding shots fired, and found Rooks dead at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Silento was also arrested last August for assault with a deadly weapon after being accused of walking into an unlocked stranger’s home in the Valley Village area of Los Angeles and swinging a hatchet at the two people inside before one of them disarmed him. A day prior to that arrest, he was held on domestic violence charges at a home in Santa Ana, Calif. In October, he was arrested for allegedly driving 143 mph in DeKalb County.
The grand jury’s arrest warrant noted that the indictment was handed to the grand jury in a special presentment, and that Silento had not been placed under bond to answer to the charges at the time. It was not clear at press time when Silento is due to make an appearance in court to face the four charges.
A spokesperson for Silento — best known for the viral 2015 dance hit that climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — has not yet responded to a request for comment. Billboard has also reached out to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office.
Silento has been in an Atlanta-area jail since the shooting in February, and the AJC reported in June that he was denied bond in the case.
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