A father who sent his 17-year-old son to kill rapper PnB Rock has been sentenced to 31 years to life in prison.
PnB, real name Rakim Hasheem Allen, was shot dead in front of his girlfriend inside a Los Angeles restaurant by a masked gunman.
Freddie Trone, 42, had denied ordering his teenage son to carry out the killing in September 2022, and his defence told a trial he was only an accessory after the crimes, according to The Associated Press.
But in August he was found guilty of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
A second defendant, Tremont Jones, was convicted of two counts of second-degree robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In a statement released after Monday’s sentencing, LA County District Attorney George Gascón said: “Today, justice has been served with the sentencing of two men for the tragic and senseless murder.
“His life was cut short by an act of violence that no family should have to endure.”
Both sides agreed in court that Trone’s son had walked into Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles and shot the rapper before robbing him of jewellery.
Now 19, he was charged with murder but has not yet been found competent to stand trial.
Trone’s legal team said he planned to appeal against his own sentence.
In an Instagram post shortly after PnB’s death, his girlfriend Stephanie Sibounheuang said he had saved her life during the attack.
“I’m not supposed to be here but [because] of him. I am,” she wrote.
She described the traumatic aftermath of the shooting, not being able to ride with him in an ambulance and being forced out of the restaurant as police investigated.
“My world is dark now. My heart is broken for the kids,” she wrote.
PnB was born in Philadelphia in 1991, and rose to fame with the release of his 2016 hit Selfish.
He had collaborated with artists including Ed Sheeran, going on to record two studio albums, Catch These Vibes and Trapstar Turnt PopStar.
He released his final song, Luv Me Again, just two days before the shooting.
Tributes flooded in after his death, from artists including Drake, who posted a photo of the two together on his Instagram story, and Nicki Minaj called PnB “a pleasure to work with”.
By BBC News
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