“While this latest news opens up many painful memories for all of us who knew and loved Jam Master Jay, I am thrilled to hear that 2 suspects have been arrested and charged with his murder,” McDaniels said in a statement. “It has been a difficult 18 years that he has not run around, knowing that his killers have not yet been charged with this heinous crime.”
McDaniels thanked the NYPD, New York City detectives, federal agents and other law enforcement officers involved in the case.
“I realize this is a first step in the legal process, but I hope Jay can finally rest in Peace. My love to Jay’s wife Terri, his sons, his family, his friends, and all his fans. #JMJForever,” he sei.
In her statement, Jam Master thanked Jay’s son Jesse Mizell and the Mizell family for reaching out to those who supported them.
“Upon hearing this news, we have mixed emotions; we really hope these accusations are a solid step towards justice served in the murder of Jay,” the family said. “We realize that there are other families in distress who are waiting for their own closure, and we pray that this matter will give them hope.
“Despite all the tragedies we have seen this year alone, we take comfort in our family, our faith and in the time to heal everything. We can only hope that this news brings awareness that the life of Black matter. “
Costs are 18 years in the making
Seth D. DuCharme, acting attorney for the United States for the Eastern District of New York, said legislation had never given up on resolving the cold case.
“It was important for us then and remains very important to us for now to bring justice to the victim, his family, friends and the community who were so concerned about those events,” he said.
The indictment aims to solve the murder of one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time.
In the early 1980s, Jam Master Jay teamed up with Run (Joseph Simmons) and DMC (McDaniels) to form the hip-hop trio Run-DMC. With Jam Master Jay at the turntables as DJ, they became the first hip hop group to achieve mainstream popular music success, solidified by the rap-rock crossover “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith in 1986.
Run-DMC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 for her groundbreaking legacy.
Jam Master Jay was assassinated shortly after the group released his 2001 album ‘Crown Royal’ and disbanded the group after his death.
Classification claims revenge murder
The indictment alleges that Jam Master Jay was engaged in transporting kilograms of quantities of cocaine between 1996 and 2002 in addition to his music career.
In July 2002, he purchased about 10 kilograms of cocaine, which was intended to be distributed by Ronald Washington, Karl Jordan Jr. and others, states the prosecutor. But a dispute between Washington and a co-conspirator led Jam Master Jay to tell Washington that he would be cut from the transaction, the prosecutor states.
Washington and Jordan then conspired to assassinate him, the indictment states. On October 30, they entered Jam Master Jay’s recording studio with firearms, and Jordan fatally shot Mizell in the head and shot another man in the leg, according to the indictment.
Jordan and Washington are each charged with murder while engaged in drug trafficking and firearms-related murder.
Jordan, 36, is also facing one count of conspiracy and seven counts of distributing cocaine for alleged incidents in 2017. He was arrested Sunday and pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in a court appearance held via teleconference.
Washington, 56, is in a federal capacity and will be arrained at a later date, prosecutors said. According to a memo from detention, he was convicted in 2007 of the conspiracy of the Hobbs Act robbery that resulted from a string of gun police in New York City and Long Island. He was sentenced to 210 months in prison and is scheduled to be released in April 2021, prosecutors said in the memo.
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Julian Cummings and Melanie Schuman contributed to this report.
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