Jury finds man guilty of sending 17-year-old son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock
Compton, California (AP) — A Los Angeles County jury on Wednesday found a man guilty of sending his 17-year-old son to kill rapper PnB Rock.
After deliberating for about four hours, jurors convicted Freddie Trone, 42, of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Both sides at the two-week trial agreed that the teen walked into Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles in September 2022 and shot the Philadelphia hip-hop star while robbing him of his jewelry as he ate with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.
The prosecution said he was acting on his father’s orders while the defense said Trone was only an accessory after the fact.
The now-19-year-old was charged with murder but is in the custody of the juvenile system and a judge has found that he is not currently competent to stand trial; mental competency proceedings for him are scheduled for later this month.
The Associated Press does not typically name minors who are accused of crimes.
Another man, Tremont Jones, was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy. Jones was not charged with murder.
David Haas, Jones’ lawyer, said he plans to appeal, while Trone’s lawyer, Winston McKesson, said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
“There was no evidence produced that he conspired to commit murder,” McKesson told The Associated Press after the verdict. “There’s no evidence there was a conversation about murder, no evidence there was a conversation about a gun.”
He added, “There is no evidence he gave his son a gun, and no evidence he told him to shoot the guy. The only evidence the jury found is that he dropped him off and picked him up.”
PnB Rock, the Philadelphia rapper whose legal name is Rakim Allen, was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and for guest appearances on other artists’ songs such as YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” with Chance the Rapper. He was 30.
The defense made the rare and risky move of putting Trone on the stand, where he vehemently denied any part in prompting the killing.
“I never had nothing to do with it,” Trone testified Monday. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing. I didn’t hand nobody no gun.”
Trone acknowledged on the stand that the crimes were “heinous” and that his son was “dangerous.”
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson seized on both during his closing argument, saying, “But you send your 17-year-old son with knowledge of the problems he possesses to do this?”
Richardson emphasized to jurors that a non-shooter can be guilty of felony murder when they are a “major participant” who acted with “reckless indifference to human life.”
Video showed Trone in the parking lot of the restaurant about 30 minutes before the killing. Trone testified that he had reason to be there because he was drumming up business for his nearby beauty shop.
Richardson showed a surveillance image of Jones fist-bumping PnB Rock, whose arm had valuable pieces of jewelry on it. Prosecutors said Jones then tipped Trone off to the rapper’s presence, and his jewelry.
Jones and Trone are scheduled to be sentenced August 27, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced Wednesday.
A third defendant, Shauntel Trone, pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact on July 16, 2024, Gascón announced. She is scheduled to be sentenced January 16.
The guilty verdict against Freddie Trone also includes charges related to conspiracy to commit robbery, suggesting that the incident was not just a random act but possibly part of a larger plan for entertainment-related gain. The prosecution argued that Freddie Trone showed reckless indifference to human life, suggesting that he was willing to risk others' safety for entertainment purposes.
