Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay's godson and childhood friend both found guilty of his murder

27 February 2024, 21:02 | Updated: 27 February 2024, 23:23

Two men have been found guilty of the murder of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay.

The star’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and his childhood friend Ronald Washington, 59, were charged with his killing in 2020.

The victim, whose real name was Jazon Mizell, was killed after he was shot in the head in his recording studio in 2002. He was aged 37 when he died.

The prosecution alleged that the motive for their killing was a drug deal gone sour. Both men pleaded not guilty.

Prosecution said Jordan and Washington had believed they would be included in a drug deal worth nearly $200,000 and were angry when they were excluded from it.

Mizell was a founding member of Run-DMC, which was best known for hits such as It’s Tricky and a reworking of Walk This Way in a collaboration with Aerosmith.

But as the group fell out of the limelight, he got involved in cocaine trafficking.

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"He was a man who got involved in the drug game to take care of the people who depended on him," Assistant US attorney Artie McConnell said in his summation.

Jordan and Washington now face at least 20 years in prison.

Like the killings of rap icons Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG in the late 1990s, the Mizell case remained open for years.

"Twenty years is a long time to wait for justice," McConnell had told jurors in a closing argument, urging them: "Don't let this go on for another minute."

A third man, Jay Bryant, was also arrested and charged last year in connection to the incident. He will be tried separately in 2025 or 2026.