Two men arrested for 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay
Two people have been arrested in connection with the 2002 murder of Run D.M.C. DJ Jam Master Jay, aka Jason Mizell, law enforcement sources told The New York Times. Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan, Jr. stand accused of shooting Jay in his Queens studio, while also trafficking drugs, according to the sources. Washington is already in prison, serving time for robbery charges, while Jordan was arrested by ATF and the NYPD on Sunday (8/16).
Washington and Jordan have long been considered suspects for the murder, which was committed by a masked gunman. Prosecutors identified Washington as an armed accomplice in 2007, and said that he “pointed his gun at those present in the studio, ordered them to get on the ground and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell.” Jordan was also arrested in 2003 for the shooting of Jay’s nephew, Boe Skagz, and charged with second-degree attempted murder, second and third-degree criminal possession of a firearm, and assault in the first degree.
A press conference has been scheduled for 2:30 PM ET with NYPD Detectives Bureau Chief Rodney Harrison and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where a formal announcement is expected to be made.
UPDATE: Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Washington and Jordan on Monday afternoon (8/17), the New York Times reports. “Together with others, with malice aforethought,” they “did unlawfully kill Jason Mizell, also known as ‘Jam Master Jay.’” the indictment reads.
“They walked in and murdered him in cold blood,” acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York Seth D. DuCharme said, adding, “This is a case about a murder that for nearly two decades has gone unanswered. Today we begin to answer that question of who killed Jason Mizell and why.”
More from New York Times:
On October 30, 2002, new court papers say, Mr. Washington and Mr. Jordan, both armed, broke into Mr. Mizell’s studio on Merrick Boulevard in Queens. As Mr. Washington forced a person in the studio to the ground, the papers say, Mr. Jordan fired a bullet into Mr. Mizell’s head, killing him almost instantly.
Prosecutors claim that the two had “executed” Mr. Mizell after he sought to exclude them from “a multi-kilogram, multistate narcotics transaction.” In July 2002, just months before the murder, court papers say, Mr. Mizell had received about 10 kilos of cocaine “on consignment” from a supplier in Maryland. Mr. Washington and Mr. Jordan were supposed to have been his partners in the deal, the papers say, but after a dispute, Mr. Mizell threatened to cut them out.
