Nearly two years after hip-hop star PnB Rock was gunned down inside a Roscoe’s Chicken ‘N Waffles in South Los Angeles, prosecutors showed an autopsy photo on a courtroom TV Tuesday as the two men facing charges related to his murder began their trial.
A jury of eight men and four women watched silently as Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson gave his opening statement. The prosecutor walked the panel through a “roadmap” of the surveillance video he intends to play in their Compton, Calif., courtroom over the next two weeks. Defense lawyers for co-defendants Freddie Trone, 42, and Tremont Jones, 46, said jurors should instead focus on the gaps and “guesswork” in the state’s case.
“My client, Freddie Trone, did not pull the trigger. He was not inside the restaurant at the time. This charge of murder is the most serious charge. We have to have evidence to support it,” defense attorney Winston McKesson said. Trone has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.
Prosecutors allege Trone drove his 17-year-old son to the Roscoe’s and sent him into the restaurant with a loaded gun and a plan to rob the “Middle Child” artist, born Rakim Allen, of his diamond-studded chains, rings, and watches. Richardson claimed the evidence will show Trone was “using” his son and should answer for the teen opening fire on Allen, robbing the rapper and his fiancée Stephanie Sibounheuang, and leaving Allen bleeding out on the floor. Richardson said surveillance video would show that the elder Trone spoke with Jones and another unidentified man outside the restaurant minutes before the shooting and then tried to cover up his and his son’s alleged crimes by setting their getaway car “ablaze” a few blocks from their home.
Richardson showed jurors a still image from inside the restaurant that depicted the moment the masked gunman shot Allen in the torso on Sept. 12, 2022. “What you see here captures the muzzle flash of the firearm in the direction of PnB Rock as he sat with the mother of his child,” Richardson said. “You will hear directly from her what transpired inside that Roscoe’s,” he promised. “Over the next couple days, we will be going through the evidence, and I’m confident you will render a just verdict.”
Trone’s lawyer urged jurors to set their emotions aside and focus “closely” on the evidence. “This is an unfortunate incident. This young man lost his life and a young lady who witnessed it will probably never be the same because she had to witness this horrendous crime,” McKesson said. “Everything you watch and hear will show you that unfortunately his son acted alone.” The lawyer scoffed at Richardson showing jurors a photo of Trone and his son leaving their home together hours before the shooting. He said Roscoe’s “doesn’t take reservations,” so there was no way his client could have predicted Allen and Sibounheuang would decide to “walk into this restaurant in the heart of South Central Los Angeles wearing all of this jewelry” that afternoon.
“You will hear no evidence that he planned this with his son. That he instructed his son to do this or he egged him on. They will have evidence that my client did help his son cover this up. We’re not disputing that. What we’re saying is the gunman acted alone,” McKesson said. “This is a horrible thing. It is. Somebody should pay. They should. But focus on what is not there. Where is the evidence that these people sat down and planned this? Where is the evidence that my client gave his son the gun? Where is the evidence that my client planted this in his son’s head? Where is the evidence that my client instructed his son to commit cold-blooded murder?” McKesson said the elder Trone was guilty of being an accessory after the fact, nothing more. “Pay close attention to the timeline and what is not there,” he said.
The alleged teen gunman is being prosecuted separately due to his age. Sources tell Rolling Stone his mental competency has been an issue in resolving his case. He is due back in juvenile court for a competency proceeding on Friday.
In his opening Tuesday, Richardson said Jones was not charged with murder and that jurors should be mindful of that distinction. He said Jones was seen fist-bumping Allen before meeting up with Trone and that the evidence would show Jones should be found guilty of two counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Jones’ defense lawyer David Haas used his opening statement to poke holes in the prosecution’s claim that Jones tipped Trone off to Allen’s whereabouts. He suggested Allen and Sibounheuang attracted plenty of attention when they walked from their white Mercedes to the front of Roscoe’s “wearing about half a million dollars in jewelry, sparkling in the sun.” He said the conspiracy charge required evidence his client had a “meeting of the minds” with Trone, and that prosecutors had only soundless video and phone records he described as inconclusive. “All of this is guesswork, all guesswork, and when you can’t put your finger on specific words or specific actions, we call that a finding of not guilty,” Haas said.
Jurors heard testimony from two Los Angeles Police Department officers late in the day Tuesday regarding their arrest of Trone’s 17-year-old son at a local park a week before the deadly shooting. The officers told jurors that the teen was carrying a loaded semiautomatic 9mm handgun in his backpack and that he resisted arrest, spat at an officer, and requested medical treatment that was “denied.” The teen was placed on house arrest in the custody of his dad shortly before Allen’s murder, jurors heard.
In the months leading up to trial, Trone failed to get his murder charge dismissed by arguing he never “instructed” his son to pull the trigger and believed his son may have been spooked by Allen’s actions before firing out of “fear for his own life.” A judge ruled in March that there was a “reasonable basis” to conclude Trone held a position of “influence” over his son. “Whether his son shot in a panic is all speculation. It’s not on the video,” a prior judge said from the bench.
As Rolling Stone first reported, authorities arrested Trone, his teen son, and his wife, Shauntel Trone, in late September 2022 after connecting the alleged getaway car seen on surveillance video with a Buick Enclave found torched and abandoned just blocks from the Trones’ residence in Gardena, Calif. (Shauntel Trone was charged with being an accessory after the fact and recently accepted a plea deal in her case.)
Allen’s brazen public murder rocked the hip-hop industry from coast to coast. The Philadelphia artist whose melodic flow straddled rap and R&B rose to fame with his triple-platinum hit single “Selfish” in 2016. That same year, Rolling Stone named him a New Artist You Need to Know, and he later rocketed to crossover fame with his 2019 feature on Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me.”
