Conviction brings closure to a cold case mystery that has frustrated the rapper’s family and fans for more than two decades.
A US federal jury on Tuesday convicted two men of murdering the famed Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay, a case that had gone unsolved for more than two decades.
Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jnr, the alleged shooter, were found guilty on all counts, convicted of murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearms-related murder.
The defendants – Jordan in a forest green vest and pants and Washington in a light blue sweater – were stoic ahead of the verdict’s delivery but grew audibly emotional as they learned of the jury’s decision.
“Y’all just killed two innocent people,” Washington said as he and Jordan were led out of the room, while many of their family members and friends who sat through the nearly month-long trial burst into tears.
The sentencing will take place at a later date.
The proceedings were centred on the events of October 30, 2002, when pioneering rapper Jason “Jay” Mizell, widely known by his DJ moniker, was fatally shot in the head in his Queens studio.
Pair charged in 2002 killing of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay
He was 37 years old and a father of three.
Prosecutors presented a case of a drug deal gone wrong, saying that Washington and Jordan, who both knew Mizell, killed the famous artist as revenge for cutting them out of a cocaine deal.
