A man who sent his 17-year-old son to kill rapper PnB Rock in a plot to steal $500,000 of jewellery has been found guilty of murder.
Freddie Trone, 42, orchestrated the shooting at a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles restaurant in Los Angeles, as the hip hop star was dining with his girlfriend.
The teenage gunman walked in wearing a ski mask, demanded the rapper’s jewellery, and opened fire.
After the shooting on September 12, 2022, the killer - then 17-years-old - removed items of jewellery and fled to a waiting car driven by his father.
The Philadephia-born rapper, real name Rakim Hasheem Allen, rose to fame with his 2016 hit Selfish, he has collaborated with the likes of Ed Sheeran, and Drake was among those who paid tribute after his death.
After the shooting, his girlfriend Stephanie Sibounheuang said the rapper saved her life by throwing her under a table. “I feel so empty,” she wrote afterwards. “My world is dark now. My heart is broken for the kids.”
Trone, who denied involvement in the shooting, was found guilty by a jury of murder, two counts of second degree robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
His son, now 19, is facing murder and robbery charges, but has been declared unfit at the moment to stand trial.
Prosecutors told the trial that Trone drove his son to the restaurant and directed the shooting in a “co-ordinated act”, with the intention of stealing "half a million dollars-worth of jewellery”.
A third man, Tremont Jones, has been convicted of second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a robbery after seeing PnB Rock dining in the restaurant and passing information on his jewellery to Trone.
"Justice has been served for Mr Allen and his family who have endured unimaginable pain losing a loved one to such senseless violence", District Attorney Gascón said after the convictions.
Trone and Jones are due to be sentenced on August 27.
