Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
On February 27, 2024, a jury convicted Jam Master Jay’s killers Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. for his murder, per CNN. The men fatally shot Jay, the DJ of the hip-hop trio Run-DMC, in the head at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002. The case had frustrated detectives and remained unsolved for two decades.
The outlet reported that Jay, born Jason Mizell, was the childhood friend of Ronald Washington and godfather of Karl Jordan Jr. Mizell and his two friends, Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels, had formed Run-DMC. The group soon became a highly influential hip-hop trio and had a string of hits in the 1980s, reported BBC. These hits included tracks like It’s Tricky, It’s Like That, and Walk This Way, which was in collaboration with Aerosmith.
While Run-DMC was against drug use, Mizell or Jam Master Jay turned to cocaine trafficking in the 1990s. It was one such drug deal that eventually caused his untimely demise. Jay’s killers Jordan, 40, and Washington, 59, are reportedly each facing 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.
A Netflix documentary, Remastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?, chronicles the tragic murder of the hip-hop icon. The documentary premiered in December 2018 and is now available to stream on the platform.
How were Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. identified as Jam Master Jay’s killers?
According to CNN, the guilty verdict in the case against Jam Master Jay’s killers, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., comes more than 20 years after the incident. A jury convicted both men of murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. All these years, authorities had failed to make any arrests in the shooting, leaving the case unsolved.
The charges first surfaced in August 2020, alleging that Washington and Jordan conspired to kill Jay in retaliation for a drug dispute. A third defendant, Jay Bryant, is also facing one count of murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. Prosecutors have alleged that he allowed the killers to enter the studio through the fire escape door. Bryant has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial separately in January 2026.
WPVI-TV reported that the trial for Jay’s killers, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., began on January 29, 2024. Prosecutors claimed that the defendants killed the DJ since he was allegedly going to cut them out of a drug distribution deal.
Witnesses had identified Washington and Jordan Jr. as Jam Master Jay’s killers and also testified at the trial, reported CNN. WABC stated that a witness, Uriel Rincon, who was at the studio that night, said the duo came in armed. He further testified that Jordan shot Jam Master Jay in the head. Rincon further said he had kept the attackers’ identities secret as he was “confused and scared.”
CNN stated that Assistant US Attorney Artie McConnell said that the killing was all about “greed.” McConnell stated that it was about “money” but also “jealousy.” He further said, “It’s about the actions of two men, Karl Jordan Jr., and Ronald Washington, that the evidence proves are killers.”
However, the defense maintained that Bryant was Jam Master Jay’s killer. They alleged that Bryant’s DNA was present on a hat at the crime scene. Moreover, a security camera only captured him on the night of the murder.
Prosecutors said that Jay’s killers, Washington and Jordan, murdered him over a drug deal worth almost $200,000. At the time, the victim was involved in arranging for the sale of large amounts of cocaine between the 1990s and 2002. Eventually, this caused a dispute between them and led to the murder.
Jam Master Jay’s killers, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., are each facing 20 years to life in prison.
