Federal prosecutors on Monday accused two men in the 2002 murder of Jam Master Jay, the former DJ of the famous rap group Run-DMC. The murder was one of New York City’s most notorious unsolved murders.
Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were charged with murder and drug-related charges in the fatal shooting of the DJ, whose real name was Jason Mizell. Prosecutors said the murder was “in cold blood” and described it as a drug-related murder.
If convicted, Jordan and Washington face a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum life sentence, as the death penalty.
“The suspects are thought to have carried out the cold-blooded murder of Jason Mizell, a heinous act that eventually took its toll thanks to the dedicated detectives, agents and prosecutors who never gave up on the case,” said Seth DuCharme, acting U.S. attorney general. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
According to prosecutors, Mizell was at his recording studio in Queens on October 30, 2002, when Washington and Jordan entered the building, where Jordan allegedly fired two close-range shots at the DJ. One of the shots hit Mizell in the head, killing him. The second, prosecutors said, struck another person in the leg.
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Prosecutors said an investigation revealed that the murder took place after Mizell purchased 10 kilograms of cocaine from a Midwest supplier and informed Washington that he would not distribute the drugs in Maryland.
“The cannons that ran 18 years ago in a recording studio in Queens, and took the life of this pioneering work of rap artists, have been answered,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday.
Mizell left behind a wife and three children. He was a member of the 1980s group Run-DMC with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel.
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