NEW YORK — A guilty verdict was reached Tuesday in the murder trial for two men charged with killing Run-D.M.C. star Jam Master Jay.
The hip-hop icon, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was gunned down in 2002 inside his music studio in Hollis, Queens.
Prosecutors said Mizell’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr., and his childhood friend, Ronald Washington, killed the DJ after he cut them out of a cocaine trafficking deal.
While many celebrated the guilty verdict, others said justice came at a price.
The jury spent three days deliberating one of the most elusive murders in hip-hop history.
“Although it appeared that the case had gone cold and would not be solved, law enforcement never wavered in its determination to bring Mr. Mizell’s killers to justice,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “It’s no mystery why it took so long. Witnesses were terrified that they would be retaliated against if they cooperated with law enforcement.”
“It’s definitely a long time coming,” said Carlis Thompson, Mizell’s cousin. “Justice delayed is not always justice denied.”
A courtroom sketch depicts the verdict being announced on Feb. 27, 2024.
Jane Rosenberg
Eyewitnesses testified that Jordan murdered Mizell inside his studio on Oct. 30, 2002, while childhood friend Washington guarded the door with a gun.
But the month-long trial revealed parts of Mizell’s life that the hip-hop icon tried to keep out of the public eye — mainly his role in trafficking cocaine. Prosecutors said when Mizell cut Jordan and Washington out of a deal to sell coke in Baltimore, they conspired to kill him, with the help of a third suspect, Jay Bryant.
Bryant was charged last year. Prosecutors say he slipped into the studio and let Jordan and Washington in through a fire escape.
Bryant has pleaded not guilty and will face a judge in a separate trial.
When asked if justice came at a price, Mizell’s cousin, Ryan Thompson, said, “Yes. [I have] to answer yes because I didn’t know either until I was told. We wasn’t brought up like that. That’s not how we were raised.”
Defense attorneys called only one witness, a memory expert, who testified to the crux of their case — the only things connecting Jordan and Washington to Mizell’s murder were aging memories. The defense also tried to pin the murder on Bryant, the only suspect whose DNA was found in the studio — on a hat located beside Mizell’s body.
Jacqueline Gonzalez, Jordan’s mother, said, “My son had nothing to do with this crime,” Jordan’s mother, Jacqueline Gonzalez, said Tuesday. “I’m still devastated. I can’t believe they found him– from all the facts that they got from this case, I can’t believe that they found him guilty.”
Jordan, 40, and Washington, 59, face 20 years to life in federal prison. Defense attorneys have already vowed to appeal the conviction.
While the death penalty is possible with these charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last June directed Brooklyn federal prosecutors not to seek it.
NEW YORK — A guilty verdict was reached Tuesday in the murder trial for two men charged with killing Run-D.M.C. star Jam Master Jay.
Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was gunned down in 2002 inside his music studio in Hollis, Queens.
Prosecutors said Mizell’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr., and his childhood friend, Ronald Washington, killed the DJ after he cut them out of a cocaine trafficking deal.
BROOKLYN, New York — The jury has reached a verdict in the New York murder trial of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay.
The decision will be read at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Evidence versus eyewitnesses: that’s what it all boiled down to for deliberating jurors in the murder trial. It started five weeks ago in federal court in Downtown Brooklyn.
Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were indicted for committing murder as a result of a drug conspiracy.
Prosecutors accuse the two long-time friends of the hip-hop pioneer, whose real name is Jason Mizell, of a showing up at his Jamaica Avenue studio in October of 2002, entering through a rarely used back door, and carrying out the murder in retaliation for being cut out of a large cocaine deal.
The two people who were within feet of Mizelle when he was shot in the head, gave highly emotional, tearful testimony.
A second shooting victim, Tony Rincon, testified that Jordan “walked directly to Jay, kind of gave him half a handshake and at the same time, that’s when I hear a couple of shots. I see Jay just fall.”
Darla Miles is in Downtown Brooklyn with the latest.
Defense attorneys, however, poked holes in the evidence — or lack thereof — in the 21-year-old cold case. No gun was ever recovered.
The crime scene unit didn’t process the alleged point of entry, the back door, and the only DNA found at the scene was that of a third suspect charged in the case, not Jordan or Washington.
ABC7’s Darla Miles reveals exclusive new details and insights into the complicated legacy of the rap pioneer in our documentary, “Set the Record Straight: The Jam Master Jay Case.”
A full 21 years after his murder, turntable wizard Jam Master Jay can stop spinning in his grave.
All three suspects in the shocking 2002 execution of the Run-DMC DJ inside his Queens recording studio may finally appear in a courtroom for trial next year, although the news did little to appease Jay’s family and friends as they wait impatiently for justice in his death.
“It’s a drag, to be honest,” said Doc Thompson, a cousin of the slain Jason Mizell. “The word in the news is a trial next year? So we’re all longing for 2024. And Jay’s birthday is Jan. 21.”
The recent identification of a third suspect spurred the latest round of legal wrangling, with new defendant Jay Bryant winning a court battle for a separate trial rather than joining the scheduled Jan. 29, 2024, prosecution of co-defendants Ronald “Tinard” Washington and Karl Jordan Jr.
But even that decision came with a twist revealed last week: Federal prosecutors are now seeking to try all three at once, with separate juries hearing the cases simultaneously inside a Brooklyn Federal Court. One would supposedly hear the case against Washington and Jordan, while a second would decide the fate of Bryant, a new court filing revealed.
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Jay Bryant, who was charged in Jam Master Jay’s 2002 murder. (Facebook)
“I’ve done these before, they’re not inherently wrong,” said longtime defense attorney Ron Kuby. “They’re longer than a single trial, but shorter than two separate trials. That’s the idea.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer DJ with Run-DMC was gunned down point blank on the night of Oct. 30, 2002, with prosecutors alleging the beloved maestro, 37, was killed in cold blood after cutting the assassins out of a lucrative multi-kilogram cocaine deal.
Bryant, the newest defendant, won a recent legal battle to sever his case from the prosecution of Washington and Jordan, whose August 2020 arrests seemed to signal that prosecutions in the long-cold-case killing were finally coming. Court papers indicated the defendants were likely to blame one another for the shooting inside Mizell’s Hollis recording studio once the case finally begins before an anonymous jury seated amid concerns of witness intimidation.
Thompson recalled how Mizell stood as godfather to defendant Jordan at his baptism.
“His grandmother and Jay’s mother were friends,” he said. “They went to the same church. … Jason took care of these people. To bite the hand that feeds you, it’s the worst thing you can do.”
Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell holds a toy figure of himself at a ceremony honoring his hip-hop group RUN-DMC’s induction into the Hollywood RockWalk Feb. 25, 2002 at the Guitar Center in Hollywood. (Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
Washington, for example, was reportedly crashing on a couch in Jay’s home in the days before Mizell’s slaying.
Brooklyn Federal Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall had previously granted the motion by attorneys for Bryant seeking a trial apart from the prosecution of his co-defendants, but federal prosecutors filed new legal papers asking for a single trial heard by two juries — one considering his case and a second to determine the fate of Jordan and Washington.
Prosecutors said Bryant’s DNA was found on an article of clothing left behind in Mizell’s recording studio after the killing.
Under the proposed scenario, both juries would sit simultaneously during the prosecution case, while the twin panels would separately hear the defense cases presented by attorneys for Washington and Jordan and the lawyer representing Bryant. Washington’s attorney Susan Kellman quickly responded in opposition to the scenario, noting the court had already granted Bryant a separate trial.
“In its motion, the government articulates the genius of their two-jury plan,” she wrote. “… Indeed, it argues that judicial economy dictates that a two-jury trial be held. Shame on them. Mr. Washington hopes that your honor will opt to protect the constitutional safeguards enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, rather than the cost-saving measures proposed by government counsel.”
Hip-hop historian Bill Adler, a longtime friend of Mizell, welcomed the news of the long-delayed trial — or perhaps, trials.
“I’ve been feeling more hopeful the last couple of years,” said Adler. “Finally, his murder will be solved. But it seems like Jason wanted to have it both ways: the glamour and money of worldwide fame and the edgy transgressiveness of street life.
“It was always a dangerous balance, but he didn’t deserve to be killed over it.”
Hip-hop has a long, tragic history of murder and mayhem. Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Big L., Fat Pat, Mac Dre, Big Hawk, Magnolia Shorty, XXXTentacion, Nipsey Hustle, Pop Smoke and dozens of others have been shot since the late ’80s. In terms of infamy, the unsolved murders of Shakur and Biggie have attracted the most attention, but right behind them is the shooting of Jason Mizell, otherwise known as Jam Master Jay, the DJ behind Run-DMC.
For more than two decades, the case ran cold with no arrests or convictions. Now, though, that may change.
The crime
At around 7:30 p.m. on a cold, rainy Wednesday in late October 2002, two men were buzzed into a recording studio on Merrick Avenue in Queens, New York. They walked up the stairs, down a long hall and into the studio. One man blocked the door while the other, clad in a wool mask, shot Jay in the head as he was playing video games, killing him instantly. Then they vanished.
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The witnesses
Two people other people — Lydia High, the studio manager and Tony Rincon, another employee — were in the room at the time. Neither was much help in the investigation. High says she was ordered to lie face down by the man blocking the door, so she didn’t see anything. Rincon was shot in the leg and refused to give a statement to police.
When footage from the four security cameras was checked, it was useless. And despite being in a commercial area and down the block from the 103rd Precinct — a three-minute walk away — no one ever found any security camera video that showed anything.
This photo Nov. 5, 2002 file photo shows pallbearers carrying the casket of Run-D.M.C.’s Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, into Allen A.M.E. Cathedral for his funeral. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File).
There is, however, an account from Tanya Edwards, the receptionist at a financial services company with an entrance along the long hallway leading to the studio. She remembers seeing a woman in a brown floppy hat leading a male in a velour tracksuit down the hallway at around the time of the shooting. At first, she identified that woman as High. In 2016, she recanted, saying that she couldn’t be sure.
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Jam Master Jay was one of the most liked and most admired rappers of his day. He was by all reports kind and generous and always willing to help out family and friends. (One Christmas, he bought five cars for other people). He stayed out of trouble and was regarded as something of a peacekeeper. So why would anyone want him dead?
In the tight-knit hip-hop community in Queens, there was talk about who was responsible. Because of distrust of the police and the “snitches get stitches” code, no one was willing to go on record. All anyone could do was speculate and theorize.
The theories
1. The diss
One of Jay’s protégés was 50 Cent. At the time of the shooting, he had annoyed a drug lord named Kenneth (Supreme) McGriff and his second in command, Gerald (Prince) Miller by calling them out by name in a song called Ghetto Qu’ran. At the same time, Fiddy had a beef with Ja Rule, who recorded for a label called Murder Inc. Supreme had an interest in the company. When Fiddy was told to back off his sniping at Ja Rule, he allegedly refused. This resulted in him being targeted in a shooting outside his grandmother’s house in May 2000. He survived.
This Thursday Oct. 26, 2017 shows a hallway wall mural of rap group Run-D.M.C., prominently featuring Jason Mizell, right, known as Jam-Master Jay, near the doorway entrance, left, to the room where he was shot. (AP Photo/Tom Hays).
Speculation was that Supreme ordered the hit on Fiddy (allegedly carried out by Darryl Brown, a close friend of Mike Tyson who himself was later shot dead) and put Jay on the hit list before he was Fiddy’s mentor and wasn’t controlling his guy.
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Cops never followed up because there were no legitimate leads.
2. The life insurance policy
Jay’s business partner was Randy Allen, someone he’d known most of his life, the best man at his wedding and the godfather to one of Jay’s children. As is common in business relationships, both men had taken out insurance policies with the other as the beneficiary, so-called “key man insurance.” A story circulated that Allen had Jay killed for the money. Going deeper, some suggested that Jay had discovered that Allen was stealing from the business. Once Allen learned that he’d been discovered, he had to act. Adding intrigue to all this is that High is Allen’s sister. Did she collaborate with Allen by buzzing in the gunman and escorting him to the studio?
This theory has been discarded, too. No credible evidence was ever presented.
3. The first drug deal gone wrong
Jam Master Jay wouldn’t have anything to do with drugs. In fact, he hired guys from the hood to work for Run-DMC when they went on tour as a way to lift them out of their situations. The idea that Jay would sell drugs himself? Preposterous. Or was it?
This theory states that leading up to his death, Jay had money problems. He was nearly $500,000 in debt and owed the IRS around $100,000. Plus he wanted to keep supporting the family and friends he’d held close all his life. Desperate for cash, he and his friend Curtis Scoon entered a transaction to move 10 kilos of cocaine from a supplier in L.A. When he, Scoon and another friend named David Seabrook flew out to L.A. to close the deal, something went wrong and everyone was ripped off to the tune of $30,000. Scoon was apparently very upset. Some suggested he was the triggerman.
That theory also went nowhere. Besides, he didn’t come close to matching the vague description by High.
4. The second drug deal gone wrong
In 2007, Ronald Tinarn Washington, a violent guy from the neighbourhood who was known to Jay and the folks at the studio, started talking. (Washington was also the suspect in the 1995 murder of a rapper named Stretch who was an associate of Tupac in this Thug Life group). He told a story about another drug deal that had gone wrong about three months before the murder.
FILE–This photo from Oct. 7, 1986 shows Run-DMC’s Jason Mizell, known as Jam-Master Jay, as he poses during an anti-drug rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File).
He, Jay and Darren (Big D) Jordan (a former Run-DMC road manager) were looking to sell a pile of coke on consignment on behalf of a Baltimore distributor known as “Uncle.” That transaction collapsed, too, and everyone ended up owing Uncle — the head of the Black Mafia Family — $180,000.
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Did Uncle arrange for the murder? If so, who did he hire?
The arrests
In 2007, Washington was named as an accomplice in the murder. Prosecutors determined he was most likely the man blocking the door while the shooting took place. He was already in prison serving a 17-year sentence for robbery. People in the neighbourhood had long suspected that Washington had something to do with the murder. He went on to say that the shooter for whom he was providing cover was Big D, the former road manager. Big D denied all allegations.
However, there’s a Lil D — Big D’s son, Karl Jordan Jr., an aspiring rapper with a chequered history. The allegation is that Lil D was the person in charge of consignment sales of that 10 kilos of coke acquired from Uncle in Maryland. But then there was some kind of disagreement and Jay allegedly cut Lil D out of the deal. That led to Jay’s murder. Adding credence to the theory is that High claimed that the gunman that night had a prominent neck tattoo, just like the one sported by Lil D. Adding a little bit of extra colour to his scenario is that in August 2003, less than a year after Jay’s murder, he was charged with attempted murder after the shooting of a rapper named Boe Skagz, Jay’s nephew.
**FILE** Hip hop pioneers RUN-DMC create handprints in cement as they are inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk Monday, Feb. 25, 2002, in Los Angeles. Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell, left, Darryl (DMC) McDaniels, centre, and Joseph (DJ Run) Simmons, produced the first rap album to go gold as well as the first rap act nominated for a Grammy. (AP Photo/Krista Niles, File).
In 2020, both Washington and Lil D were indicted for the murder of Jam Master Jay. Both have pleaded not guilty.
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Meanwhile, a third man already in jail on drug charges, Jay Bryant, was charged with murder. His DNA and clothing were found at the scene. He may have even quietly confessed to someone as being the gunman.
The upcoming trial
Both men were scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20. But then a delay was ordered due to worries about witness intimidation and possible jury tampering. People received texted threats, sometimes accompanied by pictures of victims shot in the head and their throats cut. Prosecutors have asked for protection for a sequestered jury.
All this will finally go to court on Nov. 23. Over 21 years will have passed since Jay died.
Will this story finally come to an end? We’ll see.
