New details surrounding the murder of PnB Rock, first reported by Rolling Stone, reveal how one family’s efforts to cover up the alleged murder led investigators right to their doorstep.
PnB Rock was allegedly shot to death by a 17-year-old gunman on September 12, 2022, at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken N’ Waffles in South Los Angeles, after the gunman demanded that the performer hand over all his jewelry.
The Philadelphia rapper “had no time to react or say anything,” an LAPD detective testified during a probable cause hearing, citing an interview with PnB Rock’s girlfriend, Stephanie Sibounheuang.
Authorities believe that Freddie Lee Trone, the father of the alleged shooter, helped organize, as well as cover up, the murder, and that Shauntel Trone, the teen’s stepmother, was an accomplice.
On Monday, it was revealed in court that two new suspects were charged with robbery and helping a suspect flee the state.
One of the suspects, Tremont Navon Jones, was arrested last May in connection with the murder, “but his charges were filed under a different case number, causing them to fly under the radar until now,” Rolling Stone reported.
Wynisha Evans was also arrested last May, Rolling Stone reported, and was charged as an accessory for driving Freddie Trone from Los Angeles to Vegas after the killing.
Both suspects, in addition to Freddie Lee and Shauntel Trone, have pleaded not guilty.
The teenager accused of pulling the trigger was charged with one count each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of robbery. The youth made an initial court appearance in September 2022 in Compton Juvenile Court. It’s unclear what the status of his case is.
In a previously unreported 123-page transcript taken from a probable cause hearing held last April, obtained by Rolling Stone, several Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers and detectives testify about the events that followed the murder of PnB Rock and how they narrowed in on a 17-year-old shooter, father, and stepmother.
Here Are Five Key Takeaways:
- The getaway car that Freddie and his son used to flee the murder scene in had dealership plates that led investigators to a used car dealership. When investigators visited the dealership a couple days after the murder, they learned that Shauntel Trone purchased the Buick Enclave captured on video surveillance footage fleeing the crime scene, in 2021. The owner also revealed that Shauntel and Freddie had visited the dealership mere hours before investigators arrived to buy a new Jeep.
- Hours after the killing, before the sun rose on September 13, 2022, Freddie Lee Trone attempted to torch the Buick Enclave that was caught on surveillance cameras at the crime scene. A call for a reported vehicle fire at 139th Street and Budlong Avenue, two blocks from where the Trone’s lived, came in at around 2:45 AM. When authorities arrived, they found a melted gas canister at the scene. The arson reportedly left Freddie Lee Trone with injuries to his “forearms and legs” that required “medical care,” a police officer testified.
- The 17-year-old suspect who allegedly shot PnB Rock to death was arrested four days before the alleged murder, on September 3, 2022, for possession of a firearm at a park, a Los Angeles police officer testified during the probable cause hearing. After being taken into custody for the alleged murder of PnB Rock, the teen’s father, Freddie Lee Trone, told the police officer that he had picked up his son from a juvenile detention center just four days earlier and “that he is alway having problems with his son.”
- The 17-year-old accused of murder was observed by his step-mother using a toothbrush to clean PnB Rock’s diamond studded New Lane Entertainment pendant in her kitchen on the same day the rapper was murdered. Shauntel Trone, the 17-year-old’s step-mother, told investigators that the teen was known to steal her jewelry as well.
- While PnB Rock bled out on his girlfriend after being shot, the masked shooter turned to Sibounheuang and demanded that she hand over all her jewelry. Sibounheuang handed over her watch while the shooter removed PnB’s rings, two watches, and three necklaces before fleeing the restaurant.
