The 42-year-old father of the teen accused of killing rapper PnB Rock was found guilty on Wednesday of instructing his then-17-year-old son to rob the Philadelphia hip-hop star in a Los Angeles restaurant in 2022.
It took a jury just four hours to convict Freddie Trone on one count of murder, two counts of robbery and two counts conspiracy to commit robbery, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said.
Trone’s son, now 19, allegedly walked into a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles on Sept. 12, 2022 and shot the 30-year-old rapper as he ate with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors said the teen was instructed by his father to steal PnB’s jewelry after he was alerted to the rapper’s whereabouts. Trone’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued the defendant became an accessory to the crime after the fact.
“I wasn’t there,” Trone told jurors when he testified during the two-week trial. “I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing.”
Surveillance video reportedly placed Trone in the restaurant parking lot shortly before the killing, but he testified he was only there trying to attract business for his nearby beauty shop.
However, neither side contests that Trone’s son shot the rapper. The defendant called the killing “heinous” and told the court his son was “dangerous.”
Police said the shooter appeared to have a plan when he shot PnB Rock multiple times during the afternoon mugging.
“He shot the victim and ran out the side door to a getaway car and then fled the parking lot,” Los Angeles Police Capt. Kelly Muniz told the L.A. Times after the killing.
A second man, Tremont Jones, was also convicted on Wednesday of two counts of robbery and two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, the DA’s office said. Prosecutors said Jones tipped Trone off to the rapper’s location.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 27.
A third defendant, Shauntel Trone, pleaded no contest in July to accessory after the fact. She’s scheduled to be sentenced in January.
The alleged teen gunman was charged with murder but a judge ruled he’s currently unfit to stand trial. He’s scheduled for mental competency proceedings on Aug. 28.
PnB Rock, whose legal name was Rakim Allen, was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and for collaborating with other artists such as Chance the Rapper and Ed Sheeran.
With News Wire Services