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Man sentenced to prison in killing of rapper PnB Rock’ at LA restaurant – NBC Los Angeles

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Man sentenced to prison in killing of rapper PnB Rock’ at LA restaurant – NBC Los Angeles


A 42-year-old man convicted in the robbery and shooting death of rapper PnB Rock at a South Los Angeles restaurant was sentenced Monday to just over 31 years to life in prison.

Freddie Trone was convicted Aug. 7 of murder and conspiracy to commit robbery, along with two counts of second-degree robbery involving the 30-year-old rapper and his fiancé.

Tremont Jones, 46, who was convicted of two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery — but who was not charged with murder in the case — was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The defendants were charged along with Trone’s then-17-year-old son. His case is currently in juvenile court while he undergoes treatment to determine if he can be found mentally competent to stand trial.

PnB Rock, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was shot once in the chest and two times in the back by an assailant in a ski mask who demanded his jewelry and threatened to kill the rapper’s girlfriend while the two were eating lunch on Sept. 12, 2022, at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles on West Manchester Avenue.

Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson told the jury that Trone “sent his son out on a coordinated act to rob watches, rings and chains off of a person.”

Defense attorney Winston McKesson countered that Trone’s teenage son acted independently from his dad and that the “only conclusion that is consistent with justice is that Freddie Trone is not guilty of these charges.” The prosecutor told jurors that the motive for the crime was “about a half a million dollars worth of jewelry,” arguing that Trone drove his son to and from the restaurant but never set foot inside the business himself while the rapper was there.

The prosecution stated that Jones fist-bumped the rapper at the restaurant and then passed information on to Trone about what jewelry the entertainer was wearing.

Richardson noted “how difficult it is to accept that a father would put his son up to this.”

The prosecutor told jurors that Trone, his son and Jones had coordinated actions that were not a coincidence.”

Trone vigorously proclaimed his innocence from the witness stand, telling jurors, “I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing.”

Trone testified that his son and his own vehicle went missing, and that he subsequently found his son in the vehicle with three other “youngsters.” Trone’s attorney said there was no evidence of a conspiracy to rob the rapper and accused investigators of making up their minds about “who they thought was guilty” and “looking only for evidence that pointed to guilt” while ignoring anything that pointed to his client’s innocence.

The defense attorney told reporters outside court that he believes his client wouldn’t have been charged with murder had he not lived in the area and been African-American, saying that he would have been charged with being an accessory after the fact if it had happened in Beverly Hills. After the verdict, McKesson told City News Service that he was disappointed with the trial’s outcome.

“I think the problem is whenever you have a Black man charged in a violent crime and no African Americans on the jury, it is a major problem,” he said. “Because all non-Black people — no matter what their race — view Black men as dangerous.”

The attorney said he would appeal on behalf of Trone.

Trone’s son was arrested in September 2022, and his father was subsequently arrested in Las Vegas and returned to Los Angeles County in October 2022, while Jones was taken into custody in May 2023, according to jail records.

PnB Rock, from Philadelphia, gained initial recognition for his 2016 single, “Selfish,” which sold more than 2 million copies.



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Woman alleges Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video – NBC Los Angeles

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Woman alleges Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video – NBC Los Angeles


Another woman sued Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday, alleging that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar suits against Combs, comes a week after he was was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was unsealed.

Thalia Graves alleges that when she was 25 and dating an executive who worked for Combs in the summer of 2001, Combs and Joseph Sherman lured her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug.”

According to the lawsuit, Graves lost consciousness and awoke to find herself bound inside Combs’ office and lounge at the studio. The two men raped her, slapped her, slammed her head against a pool table and ignored her screams and cries for help, the lawsuit alleges.

At a news conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from “flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts” in the years since.

“It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,” Graves said, crying as she read from a statement.

She said it is “a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.”

Hip hop superstar Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested late Monday after a federal grand jury indicted him on a series of charges including racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs remains jailed without bail in New York on federal charges alleging that he ran a vast network that facilitated sexual crimes and committed shocking acts of violence, using blackmail and other tactics to protect Combs and those close to him. Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills and Miami were raided by federal agents earlier this year.

He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.

NBCLA has reached out to Comb’s attorney for comment on the lawsuit announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Graves’ lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs’ former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit that began the surge of allegations against him, Graves learned through her former boyfriend that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others and sold it as pornography.

Graves’ lawsuit says both Combs and Sherman contacted her multiple times in the years after the assault, threatening repercussions if she told anyone what had happened to her. She was in a divorce and custody fight at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the suit says.

Graves said at the news conference that the guilt and shame attached “often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”

The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial and for all copies of the video to be accounted for and destroyed.

“Defendants should be ordered to account for and destroy all copies of the video,” Allred said.

It also names as defendants several companies owned by Combs, the three-time Grammy winner and founder of Bad Boy Records who was among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.



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Ultrasound machine found abandoned in Whittier – NBC Los Angeles

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Ultrasound machine found abandoned in Whittier – NBC Los Angeles


A pair of puzzled men in Whittier were surprised and amused when they made a $10,000 discovery in the form of an ultrasound machine abandoned on the street.

Troy Silva was inside his restaurant on Whittier Boulevard on Friday when he got a text from his friend, Jason Barrio. The message urged him to go outside and see what his pal found.

“It was funny,” he said. “I mean, we were all laughing.”

Standing next to Barrio was a machine wrapped in plastic. After unpacking it, the men found it was a Hewlett-Packard ultrasound machine.

Confused but amused nonetheless, the two called the police to file a report. That was when they learned more information about the wayward machine.

“While we’re doing this, a van pulls up with two guys in it,” Silva said. “He calls over to me … he says a homeless guy abandoned it right there. He was pushing it down the boulevard and he left it there.”

The Whittier Police Department said it checked with two local hospitals, but neither was missing the machine. An investigator later learned the machine belongs to a local doctor who had recently moved his practice from the area to another location.

That doctor said he thought he’d taken all of his equipment but when he saw an image of the found machine, he realized the movers somehow missed it.

Officers said they plan to reunite the item with its rightful owner on Tuesday.



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Bill that would have allowed undocumented students to work on campus vetoed – NBC Los Angeles

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Bill that would have allowed undocumented students to work on campus vetoed – NBC Los Angeles


Citing concerns about a potential legal fallout, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed undocumented college students to work on campuses in California.

AB 2586 would have prohibited California colleges and universities from disqualifying students from being hired on campus if they were unable to provide proof of federal work authorization. The governor said his reason for the veto was federal funding potentially being at risk for employees and students since the federal law forbids employers from hiring undocumented individuals.

“I have to now struggle to figure out if I can even afford tuition for the next semester,” said Jeffrey Umana Munoz, a UCLA graduate who is studying for his master’s at Cal State LA. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to finish this master’s program.”

Munoz, who was brought to the US at the age of 2 from El Salvador, is part of a movement called Opportunity for All. The organization rallied across the UC and state college system to allow undocumented students to work.

Assemblymember David Alvarez, who authored the bill, said he found the veto a “profound disappointment” and said his efforts would not stop.

“Students who are legally allowed to study at California’s public colleges and universities should also be allowed to work to pay for their own education,” his statement read. “The students who worked together to bring this bill to the Legislature will continue to fight for it, and I will stand with them, along with the Latino Caucus.”

In the meantime, Opportunity for All will continue championing for its cause and said it plans to attend the UC Regents meeting in January to push for a similar bill.



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