Two men accused of murdering Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay will finally stand trial on Monday (January 29), more than 21 years after the rap icon was killed.
Carl Jordan, Jr. and Ronald Washington, who were charged in Jay's unsolved 2002 murder, will go on trial in Brooklyn federal court in 2020. Prosecutors say the two men killed Jay as payback after a failed cocaine deal. If convicted, they each face the possibility of life in prison.
After jury selection last week, opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. The trial, before a US District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hallexpected to last for a month.
Run-DMC, a trio consisting of Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, are widely recognized as one of the most influential early acts in hip-hop history. The trio's 1985 release, King of Rockwas hip-hop's first platinum album, and the group's 1986 cover of Aerosmith's “Walk This Way” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jay's shocking 2002 murder has long been one of hip-hop's famous cold cases, tied with the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious BIG. evidence, no charges were filed until August 2020, when prosecutors finally unsealed the case against Washington and Jordan.
According to documents and statements from prosecutors, Washington and Jordan broke into Jay's studio on the night of Oct. 30, 2002. Washington allegedly first pointed a gun at another person in the studio. As he did so, Jordan allegedly fired two shots, one of which struck Jay in the head at close range, killing him almost instantly.
The motive for the killing was allegedly a drug deal gone bad. Prosecutors say Jay arranged to buy 10 kilograms of cocaine to be distributed in Maryland from Washington, Jordan and others. When Jay backed out of the deal, prosecutors say, the two decided to kill him.
“The defendants allegedly committed the cold-blooded murder of Jason Mizell, a brazen act that ultimately caught them thanks to the dedicated detectives, agents and prosecutors who never gave up on this case,” prosecutors said at the time. “The charges announced today begin to provide a measure of justice to the victim's family and friends and make it clear that the rule of law will be upheld, whether that takes days, months or decades.”
Jay Bryant, a third man allegedly involved in the killing who prosecutors charged with murder last May, will have a separate trial later this year.
Before the trial, Jordan and Washington argued that prosecutors waited too long to indict them, meaning they would not be able to properly defend themselves. For example, Jordan said cellphone records that would have supported his alibi were no longer available and that key witnesses would have trouble recalling information.
But in September 2022, the federal judge overseeing the case rejected those arguments, calling them “speculative” and unsupported by evidence: “The court has no idea what Jordan thinks the phone records contain, how they could contradict the government's evidence and how these contradictions could prove that Jordan did not commit the crime.”
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