On Tuesday, an anonymous jury found two men guilty of the 2002 murder of Run-DMC rap pioneer Jam Master Jay, shot and killed at his New York City recording studio.
Ronald Washington, 59, and Karl Jordan Jr., 40, were convicted of federal charges of murder while engaged in drug trafficking in the shooting of Run-DMC founding member Jam Master Jay, legally referred to as Jason Mizell. Reuters reported the verdict via the social media platform X, where the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn announced the news.
Considered one of the most infamous killings in rap history, the verdict follows a month-trial at the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York.
The Back Story:
Mizell knew both men quite well, revealed prosecutors. He was allegedly killed in a business dispute over a lucrative deal to distribute cocaine in Baltimore. Washington was a childhood friend, and Jordan was Mizell's godson. All three grew up in the same neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens.
In the 1980s, Mizell and his Run-DMC bandmates pioneered hip-hop into mainstream music with hits like "It's Tricky" and the cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" off the best-selling 1986 album "Raising Hell."
In their lyrics and stage shows, the group was known to advocate against illegal narcotics. The group even recorded a "Just Say No!" anti-drug public service announcement in the late 1980s for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
However, as Mizell's music industry success dwindled in the 1990s, he turned to dealing cocaine to help fund his music career.
Prosecutors called witnesses during the trial who were in the studio the night that Mizell, 37, was fatally shot on Oct. 30, 2002, including Mizell's friend Tony Rincon, who was also shot in the leg by one of Mizell's killers.
They also called witnesses who told jurors that Jordan and Washington confided to people close to them that they were responsible for the murder.
Prosecutors said Jordan and Washington conspired to kill Mizell after the musician cut them out of the drug deal in Baltimore worth roughly $200,000.
Lawyers defending both men, brazenly told the jury that the defendants were not behind the killing. They called one witness to the stand, an expert who testified on the frailty of human memory in an attempt to discredit the prosecution's witnesses.
Washington and Jordan face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of at least 20 years. In May, a third defendant, Jay Bryant, was also indicted in the murder and is due to face a separate trial in 2026, said Reuters.
According to prosecutors, on the night of the murder, Jordan's friend Bryant let him and another individual into Mizell's place through a back door. Both were armed with guns. When Mizell stood up to greet them, Jordan shot him in the head from close range, killing him instantly. The three men then quickly fled.
Prosecutors stated witnesses, including Rincon, were too scared to tell the police who did it and even left New York for their safety.
