COMPTON, Calif. – 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 in the two-week trial agreed that the teenager entered Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles in September 2022 and shot Philadelphia hip-hop star while stealing his jewelry while he was eating with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.
The prosecution said he was acting on orders from his father, while the defense said Trone was merely an accomplice after the fact.
The young man, now 19, has been charged with murder but is in the custody of the juvenile system and a judge has concluded that he is not currently competent to stand trial.
The Associated Press does not typically name minors 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’ attorney, said he plans to appeal, while Trone’s attorney, Winston McKesson, said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
“There was no evidence presented that he conspired to commit murder,” McKesson told the Associated Press after the verdict. “There is no evidence that there was a conversation about murder, no evidence that there was a conversation about a gun.”
He added: “There is no evidence that he gave his son a gun and no evidence that he told him to shoot the guy. The only evidence the jury found is that he dropped it off and picked it up.”
PnB Rock, the Philadelphia rapper whose legal name is Rakim Allen, was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and guest appearances on other artists’ songs, such as YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and “Cross Me” by Ed Sheeran with Chance. the rapper. He was 30 years old.
The defense made the rare and risky move of putting Trone on the stand, where he vehemently denied any role in motivating the murder.
“I never had anything to do with it,” Trone testified Monday. I didn’t tell anyone to do anything. I didn’t give anyone any weapons.”
Trone acknowledged on the stand that the crimes were “heinous” and that his son was “dangerous.”
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson took advantage of both during his closing argument, saying, “But you send your 17-year-old son with knowledge of the problems he has to do this?”
Richardson emphasized to jurors that a non-shooter can be guilty of manslaughter when he is a “key participant” who acted with “reckless indifference to human life.”
Video showed Trone in the restaurant parking lot about 30 minutes before the murder. Trone testified that she had reason to be there because she was getting business for her nearby beauty salon.
Richardson showed surveillance footage of Jones punching Allen, whose arm contained valuable jewelry. Prosecutors said Jones then warned Trone about the rapper’s presence and his jewelry.
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