Two men have been charged with 2002 shooting death of Jam Master Jay, the D.J. for influential hip-hop group Run-DMC, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday.
Jam Master Jay, 37, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was killed inside a recording studio in the New York City borough of Queens. His murder has been one of the biggest unsolved killings in the rough and tumble world of rap.
Seth DuCharme, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, told a news conference that Mizell was murdered “in cold blood” as part of a drug-related incident.
One of the men, Karl Jordan Jr., pleaded not guilty to murder through his lawyer when he was arraigned on Monday. DuCharme said the other man, Ronald Washington, would be arraigned later this week.
Run-DMC, one of the best-known rap acts of the 1980s, was founded in New York City in 1981. Jam Master Jay was a founder member along with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel. Their hits included “It’s Tricky,” “Christmas in Hollis” and the Aerosmith cover “Walk This Way.”
Washington, who is already in prison, was named as a suspect in Mizell’s murder in 2007. Jordan was arrested on Sunday.
DuCharme said police had been working on the case since the outset but had faced multiple challenges which he did not specify.
“This is a case about a murder that for nearly two decades had gone unanswered, and so today we begin to answer that question of who killed Jason Mizell, and why,” DuCharme said.
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