Jordan Jr. will remain in custody awaiting a separate trial on drug charges, while Ronald Washington’s convictions stands.
Nearly two years after a jury delivered its verdict, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall overturned the murder conviction of Karl Jordan Jr., one of two men found guilty in the 2002 killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay.
In her ruling, Hall concluded prosecutors failed to establish that Jordan had a motive to kill the legendary turntablist, born Jason Mizell. During the trial, an eyewitness testified that he saw Jordan shoot Mizell—his own godfather—inside a Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002.
Prosecutors argued the killing stemmed from a dispute over a failed drug deal, but Jordan’s defense maintained that the evidence did not support that claim.
“We are really happy for Mr. Jordan and his family that justice was served,” attorney John Diaz wrote in an email following the decision.
Jordan, who had not yet been sentenced, remains in custody awaiting a separate trial on drug charges that date back to years after Jam Master Jay’s death.
Judge Hall, however, denied a request from co-defendant Ronald Washington for either an acquittal or a new trial.
Mizell, the influential DJ behind Run-DMC’s rise, helped propel Hip-Hop into the 1980s pop mainstream with tracks like “It’s Tricky” and the group’s genre-blending remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” His slaying has long stood as one of Hip-Hop’s most notorious unsolved cases.
Jordan Jr. and Washington were arrested and indicted for Jam Master Jay’s murder in August 2020. According to case histories, both men were taken into federal custody after a grand jury returned an indictment charging them in connection with the 2002 killing.
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