Freddie Trone, one of the men accused of orchestrating the robbery and murder of PnB Rock, took the stand before closing arguments of the trial and denied involvement in the killing.
Accused Killer Testifies During Murder Trial
On Monday (Aug. 5), closing arguments began in the trial for the two men charged in connection to Rock’s death in 2022. First, accused killer Freddie Trone, the father of the 17-year-old shooter, took the stand and dismissed the prosecution’s theory that he drove his son to Roscoe’s Chicken ‘N Waffles in South Los Angeles armed his with a weapon and told him to rob the rapper, born Rakim Allen.
“I understand you’re trying to put together your story,” Freddie Trone told a prosecutor during cross-examination in a Compton courtroom on Monday (Aug. 5), according to Rolling Stone. “I never had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing. I didn’t hand nobody no gun.”
While on the stand, Trone claimed he left the Roscoe’s parking lot in his Buick Enclave around 1:14 p.m. on the day of the shooting and denied he was behind the wheel of the car that returned six minutes later that carried his 17-year-old son. Trone’s defense lawyer, Winston McKesson, told the jury Trone left the restaurant and went to his beauty supply shop to use the bathroom and left his car keys on a counter. When he finished, the keys and his son were missing.
Trone went on to claim an unnamed person drove him to the restaurant after the shooting where he located his son, other individuals and the SUV. He also bucked back at the prosecution’s assertion that his codefendant Tremont Jones handed Trone’s son a gun before the shooting, which the State claims was caught on surveillance camera.
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Prosecution Refutes Trone’s Story in Closing Arguments
During closing arguments, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson told the jury that Trone had full knowledge of his son going into the restaurant to rob the rapper.
“Freddie Trone knew the dangers of sending his 17-year-old son in there with a ski mask, semiautomatic weapon and mission,” Richardson told the jury. “This is the same time that a robbery and a murder is being committed, and you don’t want to tell the jury who [the driver] is? It’s because they don’t exist. It’s another lie.”
Freddie Trone is facing one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Tremont Jones, who authorities say tipped off the father-son duo about PnB Rock being in the restaurant and provided the murder weapon, is facing two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy. Trone’s wife, Shauntel Trone, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and pleaded no contest prior to the trial. The 17-year-old shooter was deemed by a judge to be mentally unfit to stand trial and is currently in the custody of the juvenile system.
Closing arguments continue on Tuesday (Aug. 6).
