California Teen A man accused of shooting and killing hip-hop star PnB Rock nearly two years ago appeared in Los Angeles County court Friday after the temporary judge overseeing his case agreed he was not yet competent to stand trial.
The teenager, whose name has not been released, is wearing a bright orange detention center uniform. rolling stoneHe sat quietly during the morning hearing in Compton. Prosecutors say he was 17 when he walked into a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles restaurant in South Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2022, and fired multiple shots at up-and-coming rapper Rakim Allen. The teen allegedly stole several pieces of jewelry from Allen and his terrified fiancée, Stephanie Sibonhuang, as the “Middle Child” rapper lay bleeding on the floor.
Commissioner Sharonda Bradford said Friday that the alleged shooter had been receiving a range of services while in custody, but an expert’s recommendation said he still lacked the competence to pursue criminal proceedings. “The recommendation is that the previous orders remain in place. The proceedings remain pending, and the reform continues,” Bradford said. A follow-up hearing is scheduled for next month.
The juvenile court hearing was held in the same building where the shooter's father, Freddie Trone, is on trial for murder. The 42-year-old father has pleaded not guilty to murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.
Another man, Tremont Jones, is another defendant in the same trial and is accused of tipping Trone and his son off to Allen’s whereabouts on the day of the fatal shooting. Jones, 46, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy and one count of possession of a firearm.
On Friday, jurors were shown a series of graphic photos showing Allen’s blood splattered across the walls and floor of the Roscoe home. One of the first police officers to arrive at the scene described how they helped Allen as he was dying.
In what could be pivotal testimony, the officer said she applied pressure to Allen’s wounds for up to two minutes before paramedics arrived. She said the musician was lying on his back, and a firefighter didn’t realize Allen was holding a gun until firefighters began lifting him off the ground. She said Allen had the black gun in his backpack. He was completely out of sight when she arrived, she said.
The placement of the gun on Allen’s back is noteworthy given that Freddie Trone’s attorney alleged in a January filing that his client’s son may have fired the gun out of fear. “From the restaurant’s video camera, it is not clear what Mr. Rakeem was doing with his hands after Mr. Trone’s son approached him. [The son] “He may have been in fear for his life,” defense attorney Winston McKesson wrote in his motion to dismiss the charges.
On Friday afternoon, the local medical examiner presented the results of Allen’s autopsy to the jury. Dr. Juan M. Carrillo said the musician had been shot three times in total: once in the middle of his chest and twice in his back. The doctor said one bullet entered Allen’s body in the upper right side of his back, exited the front and re-entered his body at the neck, fracturing his jaw. Richardson asked if the two back wounds were consistent with the shooter standing over Allen’s body and firing. Dr. Carrillo said he could not be certain.
Allen was 30 when he entered Roscoe's nearly two years ago with Sibounheuang. The Philadelphia-born artist, known for his melodic flow, became a breakout star in 2016 with his triple-platinum single “Selfish.” That same year, rolling stone Dubbed the new artist you need to know, he went on to achieve huge fame with his 2019 hit “Cross Me” featuring Ed Sheeran.
Los Angeles Police Officer Katrina Castaneda, who provided aid to Allen before paramedics arrived, testified Friday that she recognized the victim when she saw a large diamond-encrusted pendant on the floor that said “Big BNB.” She said she was familiar with Allen’s music. Jurors saw a photo of the pendant on the floor next to a salt shaker. According to prosecutors, the alleged shooter stole various chains, rings, watches and a large “New Lynn” pendant from Allen that day, as well as a luxury Audemars Piguet watch by Sebonhewang.
In opening statements earlier this week, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson told jurors that the evidence will show that Trone drove his son to Rosco’s that day and sent him inside to commit a robbery. He alleged that Trone was “exploiting” his son and should be held accountable for the teen’s shooting. Richardson said surveillance video will show Trone speaking with Jones and another unidentified man outside the restaurant minutes before the shooting and then trying to cover up his and his son’s alleged crimes by setting their getaway car “on fire” a few blocks from their home.
Defense attorney Winston McKesson said jurors should put their emotions aside and focus on the evidence. “This is an unfortunate incident,” McKesson said. “This young man lost his life and the young woman who witnessed this will never be the same because she had to witness this horrible crime. Everything you see and hear shows that his son acted alone, unfortunately.” The attorney mocked Richardson, who showed 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 that Allen and Sibonhuang would decide to “walk into this restaurant in the heart of South Central Los Angeles wearing all this jewelry” that evening.
“You will not hear any evidence that he planned this with his son. Or that he ordered his son to do this or that he encouraged him to do this. They will have evidence that my client helped his son cover this up. We are not disputing that. What we are saying is that the gunman acted alone,” McKesson said in his opening statement Tuesday. “This is terrible. It is. Somebody has to pay. He has to pay. 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 ordered his son to commit cold-blooded murder?”
In his opening statement, Richardson said Jones was not charged with murder and that jurors should take that distinction into account. He said Jones was seen shaking hands with Allen before he met Trone.
Jones’s defense attorney, David Haas, used his opening statement to argue that the prosecution’s claim that Jones had informed Tron of Allen’s arrival at Roscoe’s was false. He noted that Allen and Sibonhuang attracted a lot of attention when they emerged from their white Mercedes into the front of the restaurant “wearing almost half a million dollars’ worth of jewelry, glistening in the sun.” He said the conspiracy charge required evidence that his client had “contact” with Tron, and that the prosecution had only video recordings and phone calls without audio that he called inconclusive. “This is all speculation,” Haas said. “When you can’t pinpoint specific words or actions, we call that an acquittal.”
