A judge in the United States has overturned the murder conviction of one of two men found guilty of murdering pioneering rap star Jam Master Jay in 2002, ruling that prosecutors had failed to satisfactorily prove their case.
Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr, the alleged shooter, were found guilty on all counts and convicted of murdering the rapper, whose legal name was Jason Mizell and who rose to fame as a producer and founding member of the 1980s hip-hop group Run-DMC. Mizell and his Run-DMC bandmates helped usher rap into the music mainstream in the 1980s with such hits as It’s Tricky and a cover of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way off the best-selling 1986 album Raising Hell.
On Friday, Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted a rare judgment of acquittal for Jordan, but denied a similar request for co-defendant Washington.
Jordan, the godson of Mizell, and Washington, a longtime friend of the rap artist, were found guilty in February 2024 on federal charges of murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking.
Mizell was shot dead on the night of October 30, 2002, in his New York City recording studio, in what the prosecutors said was a disagreement with Jordan and Washington stemming from a lucrative deal to distribute cocaine in Baltimore. Prosecutors said the case took many years to solve because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate with investigators for fear of retribution. They argued in court that Jordan and Washington conspired to kill Mizell, who operated as a “middleman”, after he cut them out of the Baltimore drug deal. However, Judge DeArcy Hall found that prosecutors presented no evidence that Jordan had been cut out or felt dissatisfied with his share of the drug deal – leaving no reason for retaliation – and no evidence that he intended to steal from Mizell’s supplies.
“To draw the conclusions urged by the government would exceed the bounds of reason and require plainly impermissible speculation” on the part of the jury, the judge wrote in a 29-page opinion.
A spokesperson for the prosecutors said “the decision is being reviewed”.
A third defendant, Jay Bryant, was also indicted in the killing and faces a separate trial. Jordan has maintained that Bryant shot Mizell in the head at close range in the rapper’s studio.
Rolling Stone magazine reported on Friday that the prosecution alleged that Mizell had begun supplementing his income by selling cocaine after the breakup of Run-DMC and as his star status faded.
Mizell’s son, Jesse, told the music magazine last year that he hoped his father’s life and achievements would serve “as a story of inspiration, but also as a cautionary tale”.
“No matter how much success you see, you’re still a product of your environment. There are thought processes that never leave you when you’re stuck in that environment,” he said.
The murder of 37-year-old Mizell followed a series of tragedies in the hip-hop community, including the shooting deaths of rapper Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. in the 1990s. Along with LL Cool J and Public Enemy, Run-DMC were trailblazers of new-school hip-hop, which mixed rock elements, aggressive boasting, and sociopolitical commentary.
Run-DMC were also the first rappers featured on MTV, and established a new rap aesthetic incorporating street culture, marking a departure from the flashy, disco-inflected attire of their predecessors.
Before his death, Mizell was influential in New York as a cultivator of local talent, working with young rappers and co-founding a DJ academy.
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