PnB Rock’s death in 2022 shook the hip-hop community, not only because he was one of the most promising rising rappers but also because of the brutal nature in which he was cut down.
The Philadelphia rapper was killed in a robbery incident at Roscoe’s Chicken ‘N Waffles in Los Angeles while having a meal with his girlfriend. PnB Rock was wearing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry at the time of his killing, and the robbers made off with all of it.
Following his killing, his fiancee, Stephanie Sibounheuang, was blamed by some celebrities and fans of the rapper for posting their meal on Instagram, with some folks claiming that might’ve alerted the robbers to his location. True Crime News analyst Ana Garcia shed new light on the heartbreaking killing during her recent appearance on CBS Philadelphia, where she stated that Sibounheuang’s post was not the reason why the robbers learned of his location.
Garcia stated that the rapper’s fate was decided from the moment he walked into the restaurant. “There’s someone that spots him and does a fist bump,” she pointed out. “We see this on video. That person then contacted someone else — a father and son team.”
The video also showed PnB Rock and his girlfriend being served their food before the gunman walked into the restaurant and pointed a gun at him. The man, who was 17 years old, demanded that the rapper hand over his jewelry but fired the gun before he even had a chance to hand it over. He also took jewelry from Rock’s girlfriend before fleeing the scene with his father, Freddie Trone, who was waiting in the parking lot.
Garcia pointed out that Sibounheuang didn’t post the photo on her Instagram until long after they were seated because the couple had to wait 40 minutes before getting their food. “She didn’t get to post that photo until much later,” Ana Garcia said. “It was those two (in the restaurant) that were responsible for the death of PnB. The setup was just to steal his jewelry. The girlfriend blamed herself that it was her fault, and it wasn’t her fault. Social media and other celebrities jumped all over to blame her.”
Freddie Trone was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison in September this year after being found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, and two counts of second-degree robbery. Prosecutors say that Trone instructed his 17-year-old son to shoot and kill PnB Rock before taking his jewelry.
Trone claimed initially that he was not at the restaurant at the time of the murder, but video surveillance showed he was in the parking lot 30 minutes before the killing. His son remains behind bars.
Stephanie Sibounheuang reflected on PnB Rock’s death a year after the tragedy saying she was in deep depression over the incident. “I’ve been in the deepest depression for a lil min contemplating todays date, which makes a year since your transition,” she wrote on September 12, 2023. “I argued with God about openly reliving this day and i absolutely did not want to, so this is an act of obedience. This same day last year, you could look into my eyes and and tell my soul was not in my body. All I could hear were the gunshots over and over and they were so LOUD I couldn’t hear myself think. I was so terrified and heartbroken.”
