PnB Rock Murder Trial: Man Convicted of Sending Son to Rob and Kill Rapper

A Los Angeles County jury found a man guilty on Wednesday in the shooting death of rapper PnB Rock at a restaurant in 2022.

Freddie Lee Trone, 42, was convicted on multiple charges including — one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, and two counts of second-degree robbery involving the rapper and his fiancée, the Associated Press reported.

Co-defendant Tremont Jones, 46, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Related: PnB Rock’s Girlfriend Reveals Late Rapper Saved Her Life During South LA Shooting

Trone’s son, who was 17 at the time of the killing, is currently undergoing treatment to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial. He’s being held in the juvenile justice system.

The teen’s stepmother, Shauntel Trone, pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact and is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

PnB Rock, 30, was fatally shot on Sept. 12, 2022, while having lunch with his girlfriend at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles, in the 100 block of W. Manchester Ave. in South L.A.

Prosecutors said Jones alerted Freddie Lee Trone that the rapper was in the restaurant wearing expensive jewelry.

Trone then sent his teenage son inside the restaurant to rob the rapper at gunpoint, according to the prosecution.

Shortly after the shooting, police said a male suspect walked up to PnB Rock and his girlfriend, drew a handgun, demanded jewelry, and shot the rapper after an argument, as previously reported. Rock died a short time after he was transported to an area hospital.

Startled diners witnessed the shooting, which was recorded on the restaurant’s video surveillance system.

Freddie Lee Trone fled to Las Vegas following the shooting. After two weeks on the run, he was taken into custody by a task force made up of agents from the FBI, and officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Henderson Police Department.

During the murder trial, Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson told the jury the motive for the crime was “about a half a million dollars worth of jewelry.”

According to the prosecution, Jones fist-bumped the rapper in the restaurant and then let the elder Trone know what type of jewelry he was wearing.

Defense attorney Winston McKesson insisted Freddie Lee Trone was “not guilty of these charges,” and said his teenage son acted independently.

The father took the stand and insisted he wasn’t at the restaurant when the violence unfolded.

“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.”

Jurors disagreed and reached a guilty verdict after about four hours of deliberations.

Sentencing for Trone and Jones is scheduled for Aug. 27 at the Compton courthouse.

PnB Rock, born Rakim Allen, grew up in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. He released his first mixtape in 2014, and was signed to a deal with Atlantic Records.

The rapper was best known for his 2015 single “Fleek” and the 2016 track “Selfish,” which climbed to No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has over 65 million views on YouTube. He was also featured on Ed Sheeran’s single “Cross Me,” along with Chance the Rapper.