jam master jay
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Two men who were charged with the death of Hip-Hop icon Jam Master Jay were found guilty of his murder in federal court.
On Tuesday afternoon (February 27), a jury found Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington guilty of the murder of Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay, the DJ of the legendary Hip-Hop group Run DMC. Jam Master Jay was slain inside a recording studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens on October 30, 2002. Jordan, who is the DJ’s godson, was charged with firing the fatal shot into Mizell’s head. The verdict came after three days of deliberation by the jury, who found both men guilty on all charges, bringing closure to one of the most elusive unresolved murders in Hip-Hop.
“Although it appeared the case would go cold, law enforcement never wavered in its effort to bring justice,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said after the verdict in a statement. “It’s no mystery why it took so long. Witnesses were terrified that they would be retaliated against if they cooperated with law enforcement.” Prosecutors had presented 35 witnesses including Jam Master Jay’s closest friends and one associate who testified to his being involved in cocaine trafficking, and two important individuals in Lydia High and Tony Rincon who witnessed the killing. High worked for Jam Master Jay’s record label and was held at gunpoint by Washington, while Rincon was shot in the leg as the two assailants ambushed him. Both had denied knowing what happened in the past, citing intimidation from Jordan and his family. “Time solved this case,” said prosecutor Mark Misorek.
The murder took place after Jordan and Washington got cut out of a deal that Jam Master Jay had arranged with a dealer in Baltimore, Maryland reportedly worth over $100,000 to distribute cocaine. Both men potentially face 20 years in prison after being convicted. Attorney General Merrick Garland had instructed prosecutors to avoid seeking the death penalty. A third man, Jay Bryant, is set to face trial in 2026. Bryant is believed to be the man who let Jordan and Washington in through a locked fire exit after he came in through the front. When asked if justice came with a price, Jam Master Jay’s cousin Ryan Thompson replied: “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.”
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It’s been less than a month since the long-overdue trial of Jam Master Jay’s alleged killers began in a court of law in New York City. And it seems like a verdict will soon come as closing arguments in the case were heard Tuesday (Feb. 20).
According to Raw Story, prosecutors told an anonymous jury that the iconic Hip-Hop legend (born Jason William Mizel) was murdered by the defendants as part of a drug deal that went awry, which led to Ronald Washington and the alleged shooter, Karl Jordan Jr., gunning down Jam Master Jay in his music studio in Queens on Oct. 30, 2002. While no one knew who or why anyone would murder a Hip-Hop icon like Jay in cold blood, in the end it seems to have been tied to a drug deal that went left after Jay tried to cut both men out of a deal he was completing.
Raw Story reports:
“This case is not complicated,” said assistant US attorney Artie McConnell in delivering the government’s final arguments, which followed some three weeks of witness testimony, including from alleged eyewitnesses, friends and law enforcement.
“It’s about greed, it’s about money, it’s about jealousy,” the prosecutor said before spending approximately two hours reiterating the timeline of events and web of alleged actors and witnesses for the jury.
The prosecution alleges that as part of a drug deal dispute, Jordan — the slain musician’s godson — shot a 40-caliber bullet into Mizell’s head, as Washington held others in the room back at gunpoint.
Jam Master Jay was only 37 years old.
As to why Jay got involved in the drug game, prosecutors said that the music icon got in the street game to not only support the lifestyle that he built for himself, but to also maintain lives of those close to him as the royalties he was earning from his career had began to dry up.
Now that prosecutors have had their say in the case, defense lawyers for Jordan and Washington will deliver their rebuttal to the accusation Wednesday (Feb. 21), and do what they can to help their clients avoid a lengthy prison term.
What do y’all think of the situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Testimony in the trial of two men alleged to have murdered Jam Master Jay was punctuated by a former drug dealer confirming that the icon sold cocaine.
On Monday (Feb. 5), a jury in Brooklyn Federal Court heard tense and emotional testimony from three witnesses in the trial of Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, accused of murdering Hip-Hop icon Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC. The first of those witnesses, Ralph Mullgrav, was a friend of the DJ and a former Baltimore drug dealer who confirmed that Jam Master Jay did sell cocaine. “Jay wasn’t a drug dealer. I’m a drug dealer.” Mullgrav said on the stand.
Mullgrav testified that the DJ approached him to sell cocaine that he had obtained – “maybe 1 or 2 kilos, here or there.” He also stated that Jam Master Jay “just used it to make ends meet.” Mullgrav’s testimony comes after he spent seven days in jail after being arrested on a material witness warrant, which is used to coerce uncooperative witnesses to testify. Mullgrav also stated that Mizell had approached him in August 2002 about having him sell 10 to 20 kilograms of cocaine in Baltimore. Mizell wanted to include Washington, but Mullgrav declined.
“I told him no,” Mullgrav said, citing a history of bad blood with Washington. “Yes, he [Washington] was a problem.” The deal was scuttled when Washington (also known as Tigard) showed up to a meeting instead of Mizell. “I went to the tire to get my gun,” he said, detailing how he stashed a weapon in the tire of a parked car. When the prosecutor asked what his next move was, he replied, “Shoot Tinard.” The prosecution has maintained that a core reason that Jordan and Washington allegedly murdered Jam Master Jay, also known as Jason Mizell, in a Jamaica, Queens, recording studio on October 30, 2002, was due to Mizell cutting Washington out of that deal.
The revelation opened up a full day of testimony wrought with emotion as Lydia High, Jam Master Jay’s former business manager, took the stand afterward. High did state that Jordan and Washington were in the studio, struggling to recount the details but confirming “Jason smiled, he smiled. He kind of gave the person a pound and that’s when he said ‘Oh (expletive)!’ I heard the gun. I screamed and jumped up and I ran, I ran for the door.” Derrick Parker, the “Hip-Hop Cop”, also testified to close out the day.
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The trial of two men accused of murdering Hip-Hop icon and Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay over a drug deal began in a federal court in Brooklyn.
On Monday (Jan. 29), the anticipated trial of two men accused of the murder of former Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay began at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, with opening statements from the prosecution and the defense. Ronald Washington, 59, and Karl Jordan Jr., 40, are alleged to have killed Jam Master Jay aka Jason Mizell inside of a recording studio in Queens, New York, on Oct. 30, 2002. In opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Miranda Gonzalez stated that the two men did so after being cut out of a drug deal that Jam Master Jay was involved in.
“They were left with nothing,” Gonzalez said, according to Reuters. The deal was estimated to pull in $200,000 after Jam Master Jay had met with a cocaine distributor from the Midwest with the narcotics slated to be sold in Baltimore, with Washington and Jordan set to take part – until they were told they were out. “It was an ambush. An execution. And you will learn that it was motivated by greed and by revenge,” Gonzalez continued, promising jurors they would hear from witnesses who claimed that the men bragged about the shooting as well as Tony Rincon and Lydia High who were also in the studio that night.
“Why bite the hand that feeds you?” argued Ezra Spilke, the attorney for Washington in his opening remarks, citing “aging memories” as the reason for his client being in that position. If convicted of the charges, both men face a maximum life sentence in prison with a mandatory minimum of 20 years. The courtroom audience was filled with Jam Master Jay’s loved ones, including DJ Hurricane. The trial is expected to last four weeks.
The murder of Jam Master Jay had been unsolved until authorities in 2020 arrested Washington and Jordan with a 10-count federal indictment. Both men pleaded not guilty. A third man, Jay Bryant, was arrested last year after DNA evidence collected from the scene and surveillance video captured him entering the studio at the time. His trial will take place in 2026.
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Over two decades after the murder of Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay, a third man has been charged for his role in the crime that shook up the Hip-Hop world.
On Tuesday (May 30), federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced charges against Jay Bryant of Queens, New York for the 2002 murder. Bryant is currently being detained on an unrelated separate indictment related to drugs. According to the court documents in the unsealed indictment, the charges include murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking.
When contacted for comment, Bryant’s lawyer César de Castro said that his client would plead not guilty to the new charges. “Securing an indictment in a secret grand jury, applying an extremely low burden of proof, is one thing,” Castro stated. “Proving it at trial is another matter.” Bryant’s arraignment for the new indictment has not been scheduled.
Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. are the two other men who’ve been charged with the death of Jam Master Jay, also known as Jason Mizell. Both had murder charges brought against them by prosecutors in August 2020, with authorities blaming the October 2002 shooting in the Hip-Hop icon’s studio on his apparent exclusion of the two from “a multi-kilogram, multistate narcotics transaction” after a dispute in July of that year. Both men are now expected to go to trial in January 2024.
Bryant was spotted entering the building after the shooting according to the indictment, and his DNA was also found at the scene of the crime. The documents go on to detail how the 49-year-old confessed to being there later on and claimed that he was the one who shot Jam Master Jay, a claim that prosecutors feel is false as they believe Jordan is the one who fired the two fatal shots.
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Run-D.M.C. earned their place as one of Hip-Hop’s greatest groups but it appears that the surviving pair is calling it quits this year. D.M.C. shared in an interview that he and Run are in the midst of recording a documentary capturing their final moments as a group, which will conclude with a concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Run-D.M.C. began as a trio with Joseph “Run” Simmons, Daryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell. After the tragic shooting death of Jam Master Jay in 2002, the group disbanded with several reunion moments dispersed throughout.
In an interview with Rock The Bells, D.M.C. explains that while he maintains a friendship with Run, it’s time to move on beyond the Run-D.M.C. moniker and perhaps move into other arenas as separate entities.
From Rock The Bells:
In a recent interview with ROCK THE BELLS, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels emphatically stated: “Run-D.M.C. is over. The only way Run-D.M.C. gets back together is if The Beatles get back together. Can that happen?”
…
“The final show that we are ever going to do is going to be at Madison Square Garden in April,” McDaniels reveals. “It’s going to be the last episode of the documentary we’re doing. Run-D.M.C.’s last show ever. ‘Cause it’s time for Run to go be Paul McCartney and me to be John Lennon. We done did what we could do.”
Later in the chat, D.M.C. emphatically states that the group can’t continue on as a group without Jam Master Jay. Run didn’t offer any additional commentary in the interview.
Details regarding the last show for Run-D.M.C. are certainly forthcoming.
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