2 Men Found Guilty Of Murdering Jam Master Jay In NYC

NEW YORK CITY — The killers of hip hop great Jam Master Jay nearly 22 years ago will finally face the music, prosecutors said.

Jurors found Karl Jordan, Jr., 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, guilty Tuesday of murdering the Run-DMC star after a weeks-long federal trial.

The convictions legally close the mystery of who killed Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, inside his Hollis, Queens recording studio during an October night in 2002.

"More than two decades after they killed Jason Mizell in his recording studio, Jordan and Washington have finally been held accountable for their cold blooded crime driven by greed and revenge," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, in a statement.

"That the victim, professionally known as Jam Master Jay, was a hip hop icon and Run DMC’s music was born in Hollis, Queens, in this very district, and beloved by so many, adds to the tragedy of a life senselessly cut short."

Prosecutors argued that the killing stemmed from a dispute between Jam Master Jay and the two men over drugs.

Jam Master Jay had cut Jordan and Washington out of a $200,000 drug deal, authorities said.

The two men continued selling drugs and themselves cut Jam Master Jay out by murdering him Oct. 30, 2002, prosecutors said.

That night, the men snuck into Jam Master Jay's recording studio, where Jordan fatally shot him in the head, authorities said.

They ran off and for decades eluded charges by authorities, even as they made admissions or boasts about the murder, prosecutors said.

"I'd kill him again," Jordan said at one point, about if Jam Master Jay were still alive, authorities said.

The men face a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life.