COMPTON, Calif. (AP) 鈥� A Los Angeles County jury on Wednesday found a man guilty of sending his 17-year-old son to .
After deliberating for about four hours, jurors convicted Freddie Trone, 42, of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Both sides at the two-week trial agreed that the teen walked into Roscoe鈥檚 Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles in September of 2022 and while robbing him of his jewelry as he ate with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.
The prosecution said he was acting on his father鈥檚 orders while the defense said Trone was only an accessory after the fact.
The now-19-year-old was charged with murder but is in the custody of the juvenile system and a judge has found that he is not currently competent to stand trial.
The Associated Press does not typically name minors who are accused of crimes.
Another man, Tremont Jones, was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy. Jones was not charged with murder.
David Haas, Jones鈥� lawyer, said he plans to appeal, while Trone's lawyer, Winston McKesson, said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
鈥淭here was no evidence produced that he conspired to commit murder,鈥� McKesson told The Associated Press after the verdict. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no evidence there was a conversation about murder, no evidence there was a conversation about a gun.鈥�
He added, 鈥淭here is no evidence he gave his son a gun, and no evidence he told him to shoot the guy. The only evidence the jury found is that he dropped him off and picked him up.鈥�
PnB Rock, the Philadelphia rapper whose legal name is Rakim Allen, was best known for his 2016 hit 鈥淪elfish鈥� and for guest appearances on other artists鈥� songs such as YFN Lucci鈥檚 鈥淓veryday We Lit鈥� and Ed Sheeran鈥檚 鈥淐ross Me鈥� with Chance the Rapper. He was 30.
The defense made the rare and risky move of putting Trone on the stand, where he vehemently denied any part in prompting the killing.
鈥淚 never had nothing to do with it," Trone testified Monday. "I wasn鈥檛 there. I didn鈥檛 tell nobody to do nothing. I didn鈥檛 hand nobody no gun.鈥�
Trone acknowledged on the stand that the crimes were 鈥渉einous鈥� and that his son was 鈥渄angerous.鈥�
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson seized on both during his closing argument, saying, 鈥淏ut you send your 17-year-old son with knowledge of the problems he possesses to do this?鈥�
Richardson emphasized to jurors that a non-shooter can be guilty of felony murder when they are a 鈥渕ajor participant鈥� who acted with 鈥渞eckless indifference to human life.鈥�
Video showed Trone in the parking lot of the restaurant about 30 minutes before the killing. Trone testified that he had reason to be there because he was drumming up business for his nearby beauty shop.
Richardson showed a surveillance image of Jones fist-bumping Allen, whose arm had valuable pieces of jewelry on it. Prosecutors said Jones then tipped Trone off to the rapper's presence, and his jewelry.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
