Two years after rapper PnB Rock was fatally shot while eating lunch with his girlfriend at a Los Angeles restaurant, the father who urged his then-17-year-old son to rob and kill the artist has been sentenced.
On Monday, Sept. 23, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Connie Quinones sentenced Freddie Lee Trone, 42, to 31 years to life in prison, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
According to a statement received by PEOPLE from the attorney’s office, Trone was found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, and two counts of robbery on August 7. Trone’s son, an anonymous juvenile defendant, has been charged with murder and is set for “mental competency proceedings” in late August. He is currently 19 years old and in a juvenile correctional camp.
Tremont Jones, the second defendant, was convicted on two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. The District Attorney’s Office reported that he had been sentenced to 12 years in jail.
A third defendant, Trone’s wife Shauntel Trone, who pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact in July, is set to be sentenced on January 16.
PnB Rock, born Rakim Hasheem Allen, died at the age of 30 on September 12, 2022, following a robbery-murder at Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles in South Los Angeles.
Stephanie Sibounheuang, his lover, said he saved her life one month after the incident occurred. “My man saved my life, throwing me under that table,” she posted on Instagram. “I’m not allowed to be here because of him. I am.”
“To witness what I saw and to keep seeing it in my head,” she went on: “to being forced out the restaurant, to not be able to go in the ambulance or the hospital, car keys, purse and my phone taken from me, forced in the back of a police car, locked in an interrogation room all night, while all this is going on and to be the last person in this world to know my man didn’t make it after having the faith and confidence that he was.”
“Today, justice has been served with the sentencing of two men for the tragic and senseless murder of Rakim Hasheem Allen, also known to many as the talented rap artist PnB Rock,” district attorney George Gascón said in a statement released on September 23.
“I want to send my heartfelt sympathies to Rakim Allen’s family, friends, and fans. “His life was cut short by an act of violence that no family should have to endure,” Gascón said.
“I’d also like to recognize the persistent efforts of our Community Violence Reduction Division. Their commitment to this case underscores the value of teamwork among law enforcement, prosecutors, and the community in minimizing violence and bringing perpetrators to justice,” he stated.