American singer Silento has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his cousin. The 27-year-old artist received the sentence after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated assault and firearm possession.
According to NAIJALOG, Silento admitted in 2021 to fatally shooting his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks III. On January 21, 2021, DeKalb County police discovered Rooks with multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigations revealed that prior to the shooting, Silento and Rooks were last seen together in a white BMW SUV. Just minutes after the shots were fired, a vehicle matching the same description was captured speeding away from the scene on a neighbor’s security camera.
Following Silento’s arrest, his publicist Chanel Hudson released a statement noting that the rapper had been battling serious mental health issues for several years.
Before the 2021 incident, Silento had already faced legal trouble—he was charged in August 2020 with two counts of assault after allegedly attacking two individuals with a hatchet in their home.
In a 2019 appearance on the talk show The Doctors, the artist opened up about his personal struggles, saying, “I’ve been fighting demons my whole life. I don’t know if these demons will ever go away.”