Judge overturns man’s murder conviction in the killing of rap legend Jam Master Jay

A federal judge on Friday overturned the conviction of a man jailed for the murder of rap legend Jason William Mizell, Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC.

Karl “Little D” Jordan Jr., along with Ronald Washington, was convicted in February 2024 of killing Mizell in a New York City recording studio in 2002. Prosecutors at the time said Mizell was killed in an act of revenge for cutting the men out of a drug deal.

Jordan — who is Mizell’s godson — Washington and Jay Bryant had all been charged with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. Bryant has pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial next year.

But on Friday, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted Jordan’s motion of aquittal and conditionally denied his motion for a new trial.

She argued the government failed to prove that Jordan was motivated by the drug deal.

The judge also denied Washington’s motions for a judgment of acquittal and for a new trial on Friday, citing that evidence showed, “a jury could reasonably infer that Washington was excluded from a potentially lucrative Baltimore deal and sought to retaliate against Mizell for his exclusion.”

Attorneys for Jordan and Washington did not immediately return requests for comment Friday.

Baltimore drug deal and slaying

As the spotlight on Run-DMC dimmed in the 1990s and Mizell’s career faltered, he started to deal cocaine, prosecutors said at trial. Evidence presented during the trial showed that in 2001 or 2002 Jordan started to deal cocaine for Mizell. Washington had done so as well, prosecutors said.

The alleged conspiracy centered on a deal to distribute cocaine in Baltimore.

Mizell helmed the plan and connected with an associate named Yakim who distributed in Baltimore, officials said. However, Yakim refused to work with Washington.

Mizell was shot dead inside his recording studio in Queens on Oct. 30 2002 — a slaying that devastated the hip-hop community and went unsolved for almost two decades.

Evidence at trial included testimony of eyewitnesses at the murder scene. One witness, Uriel “Tony” Rincon, knew Jordan and Washington, and he testified that Jordan fired the fatal shot.

Another witness, Lydia High, testified that she saw a man with a neck tattoo give Mizell a “pound” then heard gunfire. Jordan has a neck tattoo. She also testified that Washington ordered her to the ground at gunpoint when she attempted to escape.

Jordan, who was 18 at the time of the attack, has previously said he was at his girlfriend’s home that night, and witnesses can corroborate that assertion, his lawyers previously said in court documents, according to The Associated Press.

Hall wrote in her 29-page filing that Jordan was a member of the drug trafficking conspiracy at the time of Mizell’s murder, according to trial evidence, but the government failed to prove that he was motivated by retaliation to kill him.

‘The court is not convinced’

Prosecutors had argued Jordan was motivated by retaliation because he was unable to secure a deal to distribute cocaine in Baltimore and to eliminate Mizell as a middleman, or to steal cocaine from Mizell to sell with Washington.

Hall wrote: “The court is not convinced.”

“In this case, there is simply no evidence suggesting that Jordan felt cheated by the failure of the Baltimore deal, was disappointed by the proceeds he received from the conspiracy, or sought to steal cocaine from Mizell, much less motivated to kill Mizell because of these reasons,” Hall wrote.

“Here, after a review of the trial record, the Court finds that the Government’s theories of Jordan’s drug-related motive to kill Mizell or drug offense-related motive to use a firearm are impermissibly speculative and just conjecture,” the judge wrote. “Jordan has met the heavy burden that Rule 29 demands to be granted a judgment of acquittal on Count One and Count Two.”

The filing noted that Jordan maintains that Bryant shot Mizell.

Jordan had cited court testimony from Bryant’s uncle who testified that in either 2003 or 2004 and again in 2016 Bryant confessed to killing Mizell. Further, Bryant’s hat containing his DNA was found at the crime scene and testimony from an eyewitness reported a person matching Bryant’s description entered the building shortly before and after the shooting.

Bryant’s trial is slated for May 2026.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York said Friday’s decision on Jordan’s case was being reviewed.