Man Is Found Guilty in Killing of Rapper PnB Rock

A man was found guilty on Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of the rapper PnB Rock at a Los Angeles restaurant in 2022 in a brazen attack that shocked his fans and the music industry.

A Los Angeles County jury found the man, Freddie Lee Trone, 42, guilty of one count of felony murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday.

The prosecution said that Mr. Trone sent his son, who was 17 at the time, into the restaurant armed with a handgun to rob the rapper and his girlfriend, who were dining there. He then shot and killed PnB Rock, prosecutors said.

PnB Rock, whose legal name was Rakim Allen, was part of a wave of rappers whose popularity and unique sound was partly built on their ability to effortlessly switch between singing and rapping. He gained fame in 2015 with his song “Fleek.” Then came “Selfish,” which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Deannea Allen, the mother of PnB Rock, said in an interview on Wednesday evening that she was “elated” when the verdict was read.

“I just said, ‘Hallelujah, thank God,’” said Ms. Allen, who said she was shaking and so elated that she wanted to scream. “Justice has been served.”

A second defendant, Tremont Jones, was convicted of two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, the district attorney’s office said.

Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 27.

The guilty verdict came nearly two years after PnB Rock, a 30-year-old rapper from Philadelphia, was shot while having lunch with his girlfriend at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles.

Fans noted that the day before he was shot, PnB Rock had posted photos on Instagram showing a stack of cash and a gift bag label with his Los Angeles address. A little more than a week before he was killed, he spoke about being targeted in Los Angeles and recalled a situation in which he was followed. “Where I’m from, we like sneaky criminals,” he said in a YouTube interview with DJ Akademiks. “In L.A., it’s like they bold.”

The Associated Press reported that the jury deliberated for about four hours. In a statement, George Gascón, the Los Angeles County district attorney, said PnB Rock and his family “have endured unimaginable pain losing a loved one to such senseless violence.”

“Let this serve as a clear message to anyone who threatens the safety and well-being of our community: our office will relentlessly pursue charges and work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice,” Mr. Gascón said.

At about 1 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2022, a male entered the restaurant PnB Rock was dining in and demanded that he hand over his jewelry, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The gunman then shot Mr. Allen and “removed some of his property,” the police said. The gunman also demanded property from PnB Rock’s girlfriend before fleeing the restaurant and getting inside “an awaiting vehicle,” the police said.

According to The Associated Press, both the prosecution and the defense agreed that Mr. Trone’s teenage son walked into the restaurant, where he robbed and shot PnB Rock. But The A.P. reported that the prosecution argued that the teenager was following his father’s orders, while the defense argued that Mr. Trone got involved only after the shooting.

The case relied heavily on surveillance video that showed Mr. Trone in the parking lot of Roscoe’s about 30 minutes before the shooting, The A.P. reported. In his testimony, Mr. Trone said he was there because he was “drumming up business for his nearby beauty shop,” but he denied involvement with the crime.

“I never had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Trone testified this week. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing. I didn’t hand nobody no gun.”

Winston McKesson, Mr. Trone’s lawyer, said that he planned to file a motion for a new trial.

“There was no evidence of a plan, no evidence of a discussion about murder,” Mr. McKesson said. He said there was no evidence that Mr. Trone egged his son on or provided him with the gun. “What they have evidence of is he is the driver,” which is not enough to be convicted of felony murder, Mr. McKesson said.

He added that he was “looking into whether the jury made a mistake” on Wednesday evening, but could not elaborate on the details.

The Associated Press reported that surveillance video showed Mr. Jones had fist-bumped PnB Rock in the parking lot and tipped Mr. Trone off to his location and the expensive jewelry he was wearing.

The district attorney’s office said in the statement that Mr. Trone’s son was scheduled for mental competency proceedings on Aug. 28.

Shauntel Trone, Mr. Trone’s wife, pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact in July and is scheduled to be sentenced in January, the district attorney’s office said in its statement.

Alain Delaquérière contributed research and Eduardo Medina, Derrick Bryson Taylorand Christine Hauser contributed reporting.