Judge Overturns Conviction In Jam Master Jay's Murder

Hip-hop pioneer Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell was murdered in 2002, in what prosecutors alleged was due to a dispute over a drug deal. It took until 2024 until two men, his godson, Karl Jordan, Jr., and close friend Ronald “Tinard” Washington, were tried and convicted of the murder.

But on Friday, a court ruled that the government had not proved its case against Jordan, 42, and overturned the conviction.

The New York Times reports that New York federal judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, in a 29-page ruling, said that the government had not proved that the motive for the murder was drug-related. Jordan was convicted specifically based on that premise.

“Jordan has met the heavy burden to be granted a judgment of acquittal,” Hall wrote.

Washington was denied an acquittal, as Hall ruled that the government had proved its case against him.

The deejay for the pioneering rap group Run D.M.C. was shot in the head when two men burst into his Queens recording studio. He was sitting on the couch in a lounge when he was shot in the head. Several people were in the studio where visitors had to be buzzed in when the murder took place, but it took more than two decades for anyone to face justice.

Jordan and Washington were finally charged in 2020. In 2023, another man, Jay Bryant, was charged and will stand trial next year.

“On behalf of Mr. Jordan and his family, today’s decision brings a measure of solace as they approach the holiday season,” Jordan’s attorney said in a statement emailed to Pitchfork.

It is unclear when or if Jordan, who has been awaiting sentencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, will be released. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York told the Times they are “reviewing” the decision.

Two documentaries have been done on the murders, starting with 2018’s ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay on Netflix, and 2021’s ABC documentary Set The Record Straight: The Jam Master Jay Case.

See how shocked social media is about the decision below.