After more than two decades, two men have been convicted for the murder of musician and DJ Jason Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay and a member of the famed hip-hop group Run-DMC.
According to the Feb. 27 announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, a federal jury found defendants Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington guilty for the Oct. 30, 2002, murder of Mr. Mizell.
Run-DMC is credited with pioneering the hip-hop movement of the 1980s.
“Both defendants were charged with murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy and firearm-related murder for the fatal shooting of Mizell inside the victim’s recording studio in Hollis, Queens,” the statement said. “The verdict followed a four-week trial before United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall.”
Upon sentencing, both defendants will face a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
In announcing the verdict, Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Mr. Jordan and Mr. Washington “have finally been held accountable for their cold-blooded crime driven by greed and revenge.”
John B. DeVito, special agent-in-charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the guilty verdict “provides proof that the passage of time provides no safe harbor to those who commit murder.”
“For us in ATF, our memory is long, and our resolve is steadfast,” he added. “We have no tolerance for those who would take a life, and we are committed to seeing justice done.”
Mr. Jordan (also known as “Little D” and “Noid”) and Mr. Washington (also known as “Tinard”) were indicted in 2020.
The Murder
According to the Aug. 13, 2020, indictment, count one alleged that Mr. Jordan and Mr. Washington engaged in “a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of” cocaine and “did knowingly and intentionally kill” Mr. Mizell.Count two involved “the intentional use of one or more firearms.”
Counts three through 10 were related to separate efforts to “intentionally conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute” cocaine.
As revealed through the course of the trial, Mr. Mizell was involved in selling cocaine from sometime in the 1990s until his death in 2002.
Prior to his death, Mr. Mizell had “acquired approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine on consignment from a supplier based in California,” prosecutors said.
The plan was that Mr. Washington, Mr. Jordan, “and other co-conspirators” would distribute the cocaine in Maryland.
However, a dispute between Mr. Washington “and one of the co-conspirators in Baltimore” resulted in Mr. Mizell cutting Mr. Washington and Mr. Jordan out of the drug deal, which was valued at nearly $200,000.
On the day of the murder, Mr. Mizell was at his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, sitting on a couch “playing a video game with a friend and reviewing paperwork with his business manager.”
At about 7:30 p.m., Mr. Washington, Mr. Jordan, and the co-conspirator entered the building through a fire escape door, unseen by Mr. Mizell.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Washington went to the upstairs recording studio where Mr. Jordan greeted Mr. Mizell.
As Mr. Jordan was his godson, Mr. Mizell was happy to see him. But things turned suddenly when Mr. Jordan pulled a gun and fired two shots at his godfather at close range, prosecutors said.
The first shot struck Mr. Mizell in the head, and he was killed instantly. The second shot struck the leg of the friend Mr. Mizell had been playing video games with.
Mr. Mizell’s business manager tried to escape but was confronted by Mr. Jordan, “who pointed a gun at her face and demanded that she lay on the floor.”
It was then that all three conspirators “fled the scene.”
In the days following the murder, both defendants bragged to associates about being the one who killed Mr. Mizell, prosecutors said.
During testimony at the trial, a witness who lived in a home owned by Mr. Jordan’s father said he overheard Mr. Jordan boasting that if Mr. Mizell “were still alive he would kill him again.”
Mr. Jordan was identified as the shooter by the friend who had gotten shot in the leg and by Mr. Mizell’s business manager.
However, Mr. Washington’s former girlfriend testified that he told her that he was the one who killed Mr. Mizell.
