NEW YORK — A judge on Friday voided the conviction of one of the two men found guilty of the 2002 killing of Run-D.M.C. star Jam Master Jay, ruling that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the man had a motive to kill the hip-hop icon.
The reversal — which upheld the other man’s conviction — marked another stunning and confounding turn in one of hip-hop’s most elusive cases. The case had stymied investigators for nearly two decades before two arrests were made in 2020. Authorities had hailed the 2024 convictions as finally delivering justice for one of rap’s pioneers.
Nearly two years after the jury’s verdict, the decision came from the same Brooklyn federal judge who presided over the trial. In Friday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted Karl Jordan Jr. an acquittal on the murder charges.
An eyewitness had testified that he saw Jordan shoot the DJ — his own godfather — in his Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002. However, Jordan’s lawyers argued that the evidence did not support prosecutors’ claims that he killed Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, as revenge for a failed drug deal.
“We are really happy for Mr. Jordan and his family that justice was served,” said one of Jordan’s attorneys, John Diaz, in an email.
Jordan has not yet been sentenced on the murder charges but remains behind bars awaiting trial on drug charges unrelated to the killing, stemming from years later. Prosecutors said they were reviewing the ruling.
Separately, the judge denied co-defendant Ronald Washington’s bid for an acquittal or a new trial. One of his lawyers, Susan Kellman, noted that Washington can pursue further appeals.
Jason Mizell worked the turntables for Run-D.M.C., a group that helped hip-hop break into the pop music mainstream in the 1980s with hits like “It’s Tricky” and a fresh take on Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
—
**Stay informed and connected — subscribe to The Philadelphia Tribune NOW! [Click Here](#)**
—
### Community Guidelines for Comments
– **Keep it Clean:** Avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist, or sexually-oriented language.
– **Please turn off your CAPS LOCK.**
– **Don’t Threaten:** Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
– **Be Truthful:** Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
– **Be Nice:** No racism, sexism, or any form of -ism that degrades another person.
– **Be Proactive:** Use the ‘Report’ link on each comment to flag abusive posts.
– **Share with Us:** We welcome eyewitness accounts and additional context related to our articles.
—
Dr. Chris T. Pernell, Director of the NAACP’s Center for Health Equity, explains how recent cutbacks to funding and research dedicated to Black maternal healthcare have contributed to an ongoing unwillingness to address an issue that unfortunately has not improved.
https://www.phillytrib.com/news/across_america/judge-nixes-conviction-of-one-of-two-men-found-guilty-of-killing-run-dmcs-jam/article_f8b3549b-f836-45fc-b3cd-61ad01a8d63f.html