A Compton, California jury today found Freddie Lee Trone guilty of murdering rapper PnB Rock two years ago during a robbery at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles restaurant.
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The jury deliberated for less than four hours, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Trone and another defendant, Tremont Jones, were also convicted of two counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
PnB Rock (real name Rakim Allen) was wearing “several hundred thousand dollars” worth of jewelry on the day he was murdered, prosecutors said, and had flaunted it online the day of his death.
Jones noticed, and notified Trone, who then sent his 17-year-old son, armed with a gun and a ski mask, to steal Allen’s jewelry, prosecutors said.
The masked teen walked up to Allen while he was seated at a table, pulled a gun and demanded his valuables.
When Allen refused, prosecutors said, the teenager shot him first in the chest and then twice more in the back. He then stole several pieces of jewelry from Allen’s body before fleeing the restaurant with his father, according to a criminal complaint filed against the boy weeks after the killing.
The teen has not been identified because of his age when the crime was committed.
PnB Rock was taken to a hospital, but died of his injuries. He was age 30 at his death.
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Deputy Dist. Atty. Timothy Richardson emphasized during the trial that even someone who doesn’t pull the trigger can be guilty of felony murder when they are a “major participant” who acted with “reckless indifference to human life.” That led to Lee Trone’s conviction, even though his son did the shooting.
Lee Trone and Tremont Jones will both be sentenced on Aug. 27, and the teenager is scheduled for a mental competency proceeding on Aug. 28.
Another defendant, Shauntel Trone, pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact in July and is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
PnB Rock moved to L.A. from Philadelphia after signing a record deal with Atlantic Records following his 2014 debut mixtape. His stage name refers to a street corner in the Philly neighborhood where he grew up, Pastorius and Baynton.
PnB Rock collaborated with such artists as Ed Sheeran, Chance the Rapper, Wiz Khalifa, and 2 Chainz.
PnB Rock is survived by his two daughters, Milan and Xuri, who he shared with his fiance.
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