By Dennis Romero -
NBC News
A jury found two men guilty of murder in the death of
hip-hop
icon Jam Master Jay in a New York recording studio in 2002, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were accused of killing Jam Master Jay – born Jason Mizell and co-founder of Run-DMC in the early 1980s – during a drug deal.
Jordan and Washington face a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
Prosecutors
declined to seek the death penalty
.
Jam Master Jay, in 1986.Sebastian Piras / Redux file
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have stated that Mizell became involved in cocaine trafficking in the mid-1990s, when Run DMC's notoriety was fading.
Authorities have said Mizell had acquired 22 pounds of cocaine that Washington, Jordan and others were going to distribute in Maryland.
Prosecutors have claimed that when Mizell informed Washington that he would not participate in the distribution, the defendant hatched a "conspiracy to murder" the music star.
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At 7:30 p.m. ET on October 30, 2002, Washington and Jordan entered a 24-hour recording studio in Queens where Mizell was located and
ordered him to the floor
, according to the accusation.
Jordan apparently fired two shots at point-blank range, one of which hit Mizell in the head and caused his death, the charging document stated.
Jordan was 36 years old when the charges were announced in 2020;
Washington, 56.
"He was murdered in cold blood," Seth DuCharme, then acting U.S. attorney, said when the charges were announced.
In 2007, when Washington was on trial for a series of armed robberies, he was first mentioned as a possible suspect in Mizell's murder.
He has claimed that he had no involvement.
In 2020, DuCharme handed over the resolution of this case that had been open for almost two decades to a new team of prosecutors and investigators.
Jordan, who was 18 at the time of the attack, has said he was at his girlfriend's house that night, and
witnesses can corroborate that claim
, his lawyers said in court documents, The Associated Press reported.
His defense also reportedly said in court documents that Mizell and Jordan's father were lifelong friends.
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He has also faced gun and cocaine charges and has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
In May 2023, a third defendant, Jay Bryant, 49, was charged with murder after prosecutors said they had evidence that he was also in the recording studio on the night of the crime.
It was later determined that he would be tried separately.
Cesar de Castro, Bryant's attorney, told The Associated Press last year that the indictment was the result of the "low weight of the evidence," and suggested prosecutors would have an uphill battle.
When offered the opportunity Tuesday night to weigh in on his client's case, De Castro sent information about a favorable ruling in a separate trial and the scheduling of the case.
He indicated that the trial was scheduled for January 2026.
Mizell was Run-DMC's DJ, but also contributed to their
clean, thick sound
, in which live drums, bass, and keyboards were added to the studio sessions.
Darryl
DMC
McDaniels and Joseph
Run
Simmons are the other two founding members.
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Walk This Way
, the trio's 1986
mashup
with the rock band Aerosmith, is often cited as their peak moment, which came two years after the release of
Rock .
Box
, another song with strong guitar chords.
According to music publication
Okayplayer
, Run-DMC was not trying to please a white rock-loving audience, but rather to surpass Billy Squire's 1980 superhit
Big Beat
.
They were planting a flag for the vitality of hip-hop.