Man accused of sending son to kill rapper PnB Rock testifies, says ‘I had nothing to do with it’

COMPTON, Calif. — Called to testify at his trial, a man vehemently denied Monday that he sent his 17-year-old son to a South Los Angeles restaurant to rob and kill hip-hop star PnB Rock.

“I understand you’re trying to piece together your story,” Freddie Trone told a prosecutor during questioning in a Compton courtroom. “I never had anything to do with it. I have not been there. I didn’t tell anyone not to do anything. I didn’t give anybody any weapons.”

Trone had not been asked directly about his guilt, but had grown increasingly frustrated with Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson’s questioning and volunteered his refusal.

The 42-year-old defendant, who took the stand Friday and continued his testimony Monday, is charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Richardson’s questions drew long pauses and angry outbursts as he asked Trone about the details of his movements after the shooting and asked him to name the people who were with him, which he largely refused.

“How is that relevant to trying to tie me to anything?” Trone asked the prosecutor at one point. Later, he shouted, “For the fifth time!” after being asked where he drove his car and met his son.

Prosecutors say the boy, who is in the custody of the juvenile system and has not been tried, was acting on his father’s instructions when he walked into Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles on Sept. 12, 2022, and robbed and shot the Philadelphia rapper, who was eating there with his girlfriend. Defense attorneys say Trone was merely an accessory after the fact that he was trying to help his son.

PnB Rock, w, was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and for making appearances on songs by other artists such as YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” featuring Chance the Rapper.

Defendants testifying in criminal trials are rare and risky. They can invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid it. Their lawyers usually advise them to do so, even if they want to testify, out of fear that they might escape or become guilty.

Trone testified that he did not know he was a suspect for several days after the murder. Richardson questioned why he fled to Las Vegas, where he was arrested more than two weeks later.

“I was all over the news. I didn’t know what to do, turn myself in without a lawyer?” Trone said, his voice rising. He said he decided to go to Vegas to “get some money so I can get a lawyer to help me fight this.”

Closing arguments in the two-week trial are expected to begin Monday afternoon.

Both sides agree that the teenage son, who was found temporarily incompetent to stand trial, shot PnB Rock, whose legal name is Rakim Allen, once in the chest and twice in the back.

At issue in the trial is whether Trone was involved before or after the killing.

The Associated Press generally does not name juveniles accused of crimes.

The trial for PnB Rock’s murder, which did not take place in the downtown courthouse that hosts most high-profile proceedings, attracted little attention. The gallery remained almost empty, with Rolling Stone being the only media outlet to give it regular coverage.

A co-defendant not charged with murder, Tremont Jones, 46, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors say Jones tipped off Trone to the rapper’s location and showed jurors surveillance footage of the two men talking outside the restaurant minutes before the killing.

Allen’s fiancee, Stephanie Sibounheuang, was the most dramatic witness in the process. She said she had a “bad feeling” about the situation before entering the restaurant. The couple was scheduled to fly home to Atlanta later in the day.

She tearfully testified that the pair had just gotten their food from Roscoe’s when the gunman in a ski mask appeared, put a gun in Allen’s face and demanded all of the couple’s jewelry, which she said was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sibounheuang said he looked like a child “who didn’t know what he was doing”.

She said the shooter fired on Allen, who pushed her out of the way and shielded her to protect her while he was shot. He called him a “hero” who saved his life.

The masked shooter then collected a watch and other jewelry from Allen.