Hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay was executed in an ambush motivated by “greed and revenge” over drugs, federal prosecutors said Monday as the trial of DJ Run-DMC’s alleged killer got underway.
Ronald Washington, 59, and Karl Jordan Jr., 39, are accused of fatally shooting Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, at his Queens music studio in 2002.
“It was a brutal crime,” Assistant US Attorney Miranda Gonzalez said during opening arguments in Brooklyn federal court.
Washington and Jordan were arrested in 2020, with prosecutors claiming the long-unsolved shooting was retaliation for a large cocaine deal gone bad.
“The defendant killed a world-famous musician in front of people they knew,” said Gonzalez, who painted a detailed portrait of the events leading up to the cold-blooded attack.
“It was an ambush. A death sentence,” he told the jury. “And you will learn that it is motivated by greed and revenge.”
Opening arguments began in Brooklyn federal court on Monday in the murder trial of two men accused in the 2002 killing of Jason Mizell, better known as Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay (center). Pay per Use Ronald Washington, 59, and Karl Jordan Jr., 39, are accused of shooting Jay. AP
Mizell had served as a “middle man” for cocaine shipments once his Run-DMC money dried up in the mid-1990s, prosecutors alleged.
“When the focus for Run-DMC started to fade, the money wasn’t coming into Jason Mizell like it used to, so he turned to drugs for money,” Gonzalez said.
Prosecutors allege Mizell earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in the illegal trade. One such transaction, known as the “Baltimore Deal,” allegedly involved shipping $200,000 in drugs from New York City to Washington, DC.
However, prosecutors said things “didn’t go as planned” with the 10 kilogram coke deal.
The distributor allegedly did not want to work with Washington, Mizell’s childhood friend, which caused him to be excluded from the deal. It also means that Jordan, Mizell’s godson, will lose his share of the revenue Washington expects.
It was this little thing that led the man to ambush and kill Mizell, prosecutors alleged.
On the night of the murder, Mizell was sitting on a couch playing video games at his Studio 24/7 on Merrick Boulevard.
Gonzalez said the famous DJ had a .380-caliber handgun in the armrest of the sofa, worried for his safety after a visit from Washington earlier in the day.
“People who were close to Jason will tell you that in the days before his murder, he looked different,” he told the jury.
Jay Bryant, 49, who was charged separately for his role in the murder, allowed Jordan and Washington into the studio through a back entrance at the scene of the fire, according to the indictment.
Loved ones of the defendants, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr., went to court to show their support. Gregory P. Mango A friend of the Mizell family spoke to the media outside Brooklyn Federal Court. Gregory P. Mango
Mizell rose to his feet when he saw Jordan enter the studio, who prosecutors said then “put a .40 caliber bullet to his head, killing him instantly.”
Gonzalez stated that the fatal shot was fired at close range, it “burned his hair and scalp.”
Prosecutors also noted Jordan’s nonchalance about the murder, claiming he later made a statement that “If Jason Mizell was alive, [I] will kill him again.”
Lawyers for the defense spoke briefly in court, declaring their client’s innocence and casting doubt on the reliability of witness testimony to the more than 20-year-old crime.
“Karl Jordan Jr. didn’t kill Jason Mizell,” said Jordan’s attorney John Diaz.
“This whole case revolved around 10 seconds, 21 years ago — a blink of an eye, a generation ago,” said Ezra Spilke, a Washington attorney.
Spilke went on to say that Washington and Mizell were like family, and admitted that his client was an alcoholic at the time who often crashed on the hip-hop DJ’s couch.
“If that’s the case, why bite the hand that feeds you – why kill the people you depend on?”
Also testifying in court today was Detective James Lusk, who is currently with the Queens District Attorney’s office but was in the 103rd Precinct at the time of the murder.
Lusk testified that in the next few moments, Randy Allen, Mizell’s business partner who had been present for the shoot, ran on foot across the large municipal parking lot that separated the studio from the precinct to report the crime.
Arriving at the studio about a minute later, Lusk found Mizell unresponsive, “lying on the ground” in a large pool of blood, and Allen’s sister Lydia Hyde, who identified the shooter to police nine months after the crime, “crying hysterically.” .”
Russell Simmons paid tribute to the legend by joining forces to fund the Jam Master Jay family in 2002. FEATURED BY DENNIS VAN TINE-LONDON
Jurors were then shown photos of the crime scene, including a bloody photo of Mizell’s body, wearing white socks and a beige sweater, lying on the floor next to a couch with a PlayStation 2 video game controller nearby.
Under cross-examination, Michael Houston, one of Jordan’s lawyers, questioned the detectives about why they didn’t film the fire Jordan and Washington walked through as they entered the studio in 2002.
Lusk said he did not know if any photos were taken at the time.
Washington’s attorney, Jacqueline Cistaro, questioned why none of the five people in the studio at the time of the killing called 911.
Mizell had served as a “middle man” for cocaine shipments once his Run-DMC money dried up in the mid-1990s, prosecutors alleged. SUNLIGHT
The detective said “I don’t remember anyone calling 911” but later pointed out that it might have been quicker for Allen to run to the precinct like he did than to call for help.
Run-DMC, who proudly hail from Hollis, Queens, are a pioneering rap trio largely credited with bringing hip-hop to mainstream audiences with hits like “It’s Tricky” and “My Adidas.”
Unlike some of their other artists of their age, Run-DMC avoided the violence and crime of street life, both in their lyrics and their political activities.
The group famously did an anti-drug PSA in 1987, held voter registration drives at concerts and spoke out against Los Angeles gang violence.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
