A Los Angeles County jury on Wednesday found a man guilty of orchestrating the murder of rapper PnB Rock by sending his 17-year-old son to carry out the crime.
After roughly four hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Freddie Trone, 42, of one count of murder, two counts of robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
During the two-week trial, both the prosecution and defense agreed that the teen entered Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles in September 2022 and fatally shot the Philadelphia hip-hop artist while robbing him of his jewelry. PnB Rock was dining with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter at the time.
Prosecutors argued that the teen was acting under his father’s orders, while the defense maintained that Trone was merely an accessory after the fact.
The now-19-year-old son, charged with murder, is currently in juvenile custody, with a judge ruling him not competent to stand trial at this time.
Another individual, Tremont Jones, was also found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy but was not charged with murder.
David Haas, Jones’ attorney, stated plans to appeal the verdict, while Trone’s attorney, Winston McKesson, indicated his intention to file a motion for a new trial.
“There was no evidence produced that he conspired to commit murder,” McKesson told media after the verdict. “There’s no evidence of a conversation about murder, no evidence of a conversation about a gun.”
He continued, “There is no evidence he gave his son a gun, and no evidence he told him to shoot anyone. The only evidence the jury found is that he dropped his son off and picked him up.”
PnB Rock, whose real name was Rakim Allen, was a Philadelphia rapper known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and collaborations on tracks like YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” with Chance the Rapper. He was 30 years old.
In a rare and risky legal move, the defense called Trone to testify, where he adamantly denied any involvement in the killing.
“I never had anything to do with it,” Trone testified on Monday. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell anybody to do anything. I didn’t hand anyone a gun.”
Trone did, however, acknowledge the crimes as “heinous” and described his son as “dangerous.”
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson seized on these admissions during his closing argument, questioning, “But you send your 17-year-old son, knowing the problems he has, to do this?”
Richardson emphasized to the jury that under felony murder law, even a non-shooter can be held liable if they were a “major participant” who acted with “reckless indifference to human life.”
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Surveillance footage placed Trone in the restaurant’s parking lot about 30 minutes before the shooting. Trone testified that he was there to promote his nearby beauty shop.
Richardson also presented a surveillance image showing Jones fist-bumping Allen, who was wearing valuable jewelry. Prosecutors argued that Jones then tipped off Trone about the rapper’s presence and his jewelry, setting the tragic events in motion.
