Jam Master Jay: Run-DMC star shot by godson after drug dealing dispute, court told

A court heard that Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay was shot dead more than two decades ago by his godson as revenge for being shut out of a drugs deal.

Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and another man, Ronald Washington, 59, have been tried in New York charged with murder.

In their opening statements Monday, prosecutors claimed the pair carried out an “execution” that was “motivated by greed and revenge.”

However, his lawyers told the jury that the pioneering DJ was not killed.

Jam Master Jay, whose real name is Jason Mizell, was 37 years old when he was shot in the head at his recording studio in Queens, New York, in October 2002.

He was one-third of Run-DMC, the influential hip-hop group known for 1980s songs like It’s Tricky, It’s Like That and the Aerosmith collaboration Walk This Way.

They spoke out against drug culture, even recording a “Just Say No” public service announcement in 1988. But prosecutors said Mizell had become involved as a middleman in cocaine deals to support his and his lifestyle. other people close to him as the group’s musical career progressed. faded

They said Jordan, who was 18 at the time, and Washington, a friend who was staying with Mizell’s sister, thought they would be part of a deal worth nearly $200,000 and were angry when they were left out.

They plotted to kill him after being left “with nothing,” New York prosecutor Miranda González told the jury, according to the Reuters news agency.

Another man, Jay Bryant, will face a separate trial in 2026. He is accused of entering the studio through the front door and letting Jordan and Washington in through a locked rear fire escape, before Jordan allegedly shot Mizell with a gun.

“He would be murdered in his own music studio, by people he knew,” González told the court, the AFP news agency reported.

But defense attorney Ezra Spilke called the prosecution’s account of events “one version among many” and said the two defendants “have no idea who did it.”

There is no forensic evidence connecting his client, Mr. Washington, to the murder, only “aging memories,” he said.

Washington was an alcoholic and depended on Mizell to keep a roof over his head. “Why bite the hand that feeds you?” said Mr. Spilke. “Why kill the person you depend on?”

He told the jury: “Mizell was a much-loved artist, but convicting the wrong person…doesn’t solve the tragedy. It just adds another.”

Jordan’s attorney, John Diaz, noted how “the narrative has changed over time” and that some prosecution witnesses had cooperated with federal investigators in exchange for leniency in their own criminal cases.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.