One of Two Men Found Guilty in Killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay Has 2024 Conviction Overturned

Rap legend Jam Master Jay’s murder case has taken another shocking turn as one of the two men found guilty of gunning down the Run-DMC deejay has had his 2024 conviction overturned — more than two decades after the recording artist was taken out by a bullet to the head.

U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted Karl “Noid” Jordan Jr. — the rapper’s godson — an acquittal on murder charges after his lawyer successfully argued that the presented trial evidence didn’t support prosecutors’ claims that his client’s alleged motive was revenge for a $200,000 drug deal gone wrong, according to CNN.

Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream in the 1980s with bandmates Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels when their cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” became a Top 10 hit. But in October 2002, the trailblazer’s life was cut short at age 37 when he was executed at his recording studio in Queens, N.Y.

Jordan, 41, and Ronald “Tinard” Washington, 60, were arrested in 2020 in what officials called at the time justice for the pioneering performer.

Prosecutors contended that Mizell had cut the accused killers out of a massive cocaine deal and charged that Jordan and Washington wanted to exact revenge.

Lawmen had alleged that the duo broke into the studio and as Mizell’s childhood friend Washington blocked the door, Jordan pulled the trigger.

Both men had pleaded not guilty, were tried together and convicted. But only Jordan’s verdict was voided. The judge denied Washington’s bid for an acquittal or a new trial. However, one of Washington’s lawyers noted that he can pursue further appeals.

The judge determined that the evidence about the supposed drug deal beef was stronger against Washington than against Jordan. There was testimony suggesting bad blood between Washington and a Baltimore-based dope dealer ended a potential six-figure coke deal involving Mizell and the suspects.

During the pair’s trial, Jordan’s lawyers urged jurors to consider that a third man, Jay Bryant, may be responsible. Bryant, 50, was charged in Mizell’s killing in 2023 after lawmen say his DNA was found on a hat at the crime scene.

Bryant has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.