Los Angeles police confirmed to The Times on Wednesday that a juvenile boy and a woman are in arrest in the death of rapper PnB Rock, who was gunned down two weeks ago inside Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles in South L.A. Authorities are looking for a third suspect, who has been identified as the boy’s father and is described as armed and dangerous.
According to LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz, a national task team, detained two people concerning Rock’s death on Tuesday. In Lawndale, a juvenile was arrested on suspicion of murder, and Shauntel Trone, 38, was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder, according to Muniz. According to her, a third suspect, Freddie Lee Trone, 40, is still at large.
Police have arrested the 17-year-old son of Freddie Trone in connection with the PnB Rock murder. The son was the shooter and his dad drove the getaway car. pic.twitter.com/dLbYf1HD4H
— No Jumper (@nojumper) September 28, 2022
According to a law enforcement source, the murder suspect is Freddie Trone’s 17-year-old son.
Shauntel Trone was detained in Gardena shortly before 8 p.m. and put into the 77th Street community station jail. Tuesday, according to arrest records. According to Los Angeles County sheriff’s jail booking records, she was booked on a misdemeanor charge by Culver City police four days after the rapper’s fatal gunshot.
Investigators released Freddie Trone’s photos on Wednesday to locate and apprehend him. Authorities suspect Trone was implicated in the rapper’s death on September 12 during a violent heist inside the Manchester Avenue cafe.
According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, a shooter demanded jewelry and other valuables before fighting PnB and opening fire at Roscoe’s.
Moore said the shooting happened shortly after the rapper was tagged online as being at the restaurant, and authorities are looking into whether that was the catalyst for the attack. According to police, such crimes involving social media are uncommon. Moore, on the other hand, is concerned about the increase of weapons on the streets, which are being used by criminals targeting victims for high-end jewels.
According to law enforcement sources who were not authorized to discuss the case, Trone and his kid were at Roscoe’s parking lot before any social media reports about Rock’s presence were made public.
Rock, 30, was in the restaurant with his girlfriend, who had shared a location-tagged photo in a since-deleted Instagram post. The incident rekindled debate about the perils of celebrities posting about their locations and fancy belongings on social media in real-time.
The incident provoked sadness and fury among fans and community activists, who say violence in a popular restaurant is inexcusable.
“I want the community to heal.” “There needs to be a more holistic effort to make it obvious that removing material objects like an expensive watch is not worth more than a life,” said Skipp Townsend, a long-time Los Angeles gang interventionist.
He noted that the gunman may have killed many people in the lunch crowd.
“This happened while he was eating, which is awful,” Townsend said. “Arrests do not put an end to the violence.” Arrests do not provide closure for families. We need a long-term effort to keep people from thinking about such activities.”
Trone was on probation at the time of Rock’s murder after being convicted of a felon possessing a handgun in February 2021. Trone was sentenced to three years in prison, 43 days of community service, and two days in detention. He was arrested on August 12, 2020, with a firearm and ammo in public. According to court records, he was charged with three felonies. Still, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the counts for unauthorized possession of a handgun in public and ammunition in exchange for the felon possessing a firearm.
According to jail records in Los Angeles County, Trone was arrested by the LAPD’s Southeast Division on August 7, 2021. Prosecutors declined to file new charges in that instance, but he was sentenced to 486 days in jail for breaking probation in December. According to documents, he was released in March.
Trone was on three years probation at the time of his 2020 arrest for a July 2017 incident in which he was convicted of operating an automobile with reckless disregard for public safety. Prosecutors at the time dismissed DUI charges as part of a plea bargain.
According to court documents, he was convicted of assault by means likely to cause serious bodily harm in August 2013 and received a four-year jail sentence for the 2012 incident.
