By Mike Rose: 02/27/2024
Two men from Queens have been found guilty on all counts in the Oct. 30, 2002, murder of Jam Master Jay, a member of the iconic hip-hop group Run-DMC.
Karl Jordan Jr., also known as "Little D" and "Noid," and Ronald Washington, also known as "Tinard," were each charged with one count of murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking and one count of firearm-related murder for the fatal shooting of Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell.
The defense attorneys for Jordan and Washington argued during closing arguments that there is no physical evidence linking their clients to the fatal shooting, according to New York station WABC. The attorneys pointed the finger at a third man who was charged in the fatal shooting, per WABC who is expected to face trail in 2025.
Each defendant is facing a minimum of 20 years to life in prison or the death penalty, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, which prosecuted the case.
Prosecutors claimed during the trail, that Mizell was murdered by Jordan and Washington, who was Mizell's childhood friend, because the famed DJ was allegedly going to cut them out of a cocaine deal--approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine acquired from a narcotics supplier in the Midwest.
"The defendants allegedly carried out the cold-blooded murder of Jason Mizel, a brazen act that has finally caught up with them thanks to the dedicated detectives, agents and prosecutors who never gave up on the case," acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme said in a statement, announcing the charges.
