NEW YORK — Two men charged with murder in the death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay will go on trial Monday, more than two decades after the trailblazing DJ was gunned down in his New York City recording studio.
Opening statements are scheduled in federal court in Brooklyn for the murder trial of Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, who prosecutors say killed 37-year-old Jay in 2002 over a drug deal. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Jay, whose birth name was Jason Mizell, worked on the decks with rappers Joe “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels as the group helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream in the 1980s with hits like “It’s Tricky” and a remake of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’.
His murder rocked the hip-hop world and prompted the group to disband, but the case remained unsolved until the two men from his Queens neighborhood were arrested in 2020. A third man was charged in the shooting last year and will be tried separately.
Run-DMC took an anti-drug stance in the lyrics and PSAs, but prosecutors allege that Jay became involved in cocaine trafficking in the mid-1990s. Before his murder, they say he obtained 20 pounds of the drug, which Washington, Jordan and others went on to distribute in Maryland.
However, Washington had a dispute with another person involved in the scheme and Jay cut him out of the deal. He and Jordan then showed up armed at the DJ’s 24/7 recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on the evening of October 30, 2002, prosecutors allege.
Inside, Washington is accused of brandishing a gun and ordering one person to lie on the ground, while Jordan allegedly shot Jay in the head.
Despite several others being in the studio at the time of the murder and more than $60,000 in rewards being offered for information in the aftermath, the witnesses remained tight-lipped and the case remained cold for years, prompting police and frustrated Jay’s family.
Prosecutors say witnesses have now identified both Washington, 59, and Jordan, 40, as the attackers. They also allege that Washington has made statements confirming his involvement with law enforcement and others.
Washington was first named as a possible suspect in the killing in 2007 while he was on trial for a series of armed robberies, although he insisted he was not involved. In a Playboy article published several years earlier, he said he was on his way to the studio the night of the murder when he heard gunshots and saw Jordan fleeing.
Lawyers for Jordan said in court documents that his father was a “lifelong friend” of Jay’s and that their families had been neighbors. They say Jordan, then 18, was at his pregnant girlfriend’s house at the time of the murder and witnesses may have placed him there.
Jordan also faces firearms and cocaine charges in the trial, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Although he has no criminal record as an adult, prosecutors allege he is still involved in narcotics trafficking and that they have footage of him selling cocaine to an undercover police officer.
The men face a minimum prison sentence of 20 years if found guilty. The government has said it will not seek the death penalty.