Jam Master Jay

Case background and investigation

Jason Mizell, born on January 21, 1965, was the DJ of the hip-hop group Run-DMC and performed as Jam Master Jay. On the evening of October 30, 2002, he was shot and killed at the age of 37 inside a recording studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, according to Wikipedia. The case went unsolved for nearly two decades.

In August 2020, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted Ronald Washington, a longtime friend of Mizell, and Karl Jordan Jr., Mizell's godson, according to Wikipedia. A third man, Jay Bryant, was charged in May 2023. At trial, prosecutors alleged that the killing grew out of a failed cocaine deal: according to NBC New York, they said the defendants had wanted to obtain and resell about 10 kilograms of cocaine through Mizell, but a Baltimore dealer refused to work with Washington. Prosecutors alleged that Jordan fired the shots and that Washington blocked the door and ordered a man in the studio to the floor at gunpoint.

On February 27, 2024, after a trial that began in late January, a federal jury convicted Washington and Jordan of murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy and firearm-related murder, NBC New York reported.

On December 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall set aside Jordan's conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal, finding that prosecutors had not proved he was motivated by the drug deal as the charges required, according to NBC News. She denied Washington's motions for acquittal or a new trial, leaving his conviction in place. According to Courthouse News and Complex, the government has appealed Jordan's acquittal to the Second Circuit, and as of September 2026 that appeal and a related dispute over his bail were pending. Jordan is therefore not convicted of the murder. Wikipedia reports that he also faces separate drug charges.

On April 27, 2026, Bryant pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to a firearm-related murder charge, admitting that he helped let the attackers into the studio and knew a gun would be used, according to NBC News and Courthouse News. Courthouse News reported that he faces 15 to 20 years in prison; Complex reported in September 2026 that no sentencing date had yet been set. No sentencing of Washington had been reported in the sources reviewed.