After 22 years, Jam Master Jay and his family have received justice for his murder with the conviction of Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington in a New York City courtroom today.
Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was murdered on Oct. 30 of 2002 in his Queens, New York music studio. Prosecutors allege that Jam Master Jay’s godson Karl Jordan Jr., and the DJs childhood friend, Ronald Washington, murdered the Run-DMC founding member because they were “cut” out of a drug deal.
The two men were charged with murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy and firearm-related murder and are facing 20 years to life in prison.
This double-decade ordeal to track Mizell’s murderers began in 2007, when federal prosecutors named him a suspect of the murder during a trial for a series of robberies unrelated to the DJ. Eventually, prosecutors pieced together that Mizell’s murderers entered his studio around 7:30 p.m., with Jordan allegedly firing two shots at the Run-DMC member, fatally wounding him in the head.
“More than two decades after they killed Jason Mizell in his recording studio, Jordan and Washington have finally been held accountable for their cold-blooded crime driven by greed and revenge,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said during the announcement of the verdict.
Mizell was a founding member of Run-DMC alongside Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels. The New York group changed hip-hop forever as the first rap group to earn a gold record and through their collaborations with high profile brands like Adidas.
“Today’s guilty verdicts provides proof that the passage of time provides no safe harbor to those who commit murder,” John B. DeVito, Special Agent-in-Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said during the verdict announcement.
With Run-DMC finally getting justice and Tupac soon as well, DeVito’s words could never be more true.