A federal judge has overturned the conviction of one of two men who were found guilty of the 2002 murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell).
According to Billboard, Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted the motion for acquittal of Karl Jordan Jr., who was found guilty in 2024 of murdering his godfather and legendary DJ over a drug-related conspiracy. Another man who was found guilty in the case, Ronald Washington, was denied a motion for acquittal.
In her ruling, Judge Hall stated that the government failed to connect the murder to a drug-related conspiracy in Jordan’s case.
“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,” Hall wrote. “Jordan has met the heavy burden [under federal rules] to be granted a judgment of acquittal.”
She added in relation to Washington, “A reasonable jury could conclude Washington sought to murder Mizell in reprisal for Mizell’s failure to ensure Washington’s promised involvement in the Baltimore deal, as well as to send a message to other co-conspirators.”
Mizell was playing video games in his Queens, New York, studio on Oct. 30, 2022, when a gunman entered the room and shot him in the head. Despite witnesses on the scene at the time of the murder, the case remained cold for nearly 20 years. In 2020, murder charges were filed against Jordan Jr. and Washington and in 2023, a third man, Jay Bryant, was charged in connection with the killing. During their 2024 trial, attorneys for Jordan and Washington alleged that Bryant was the man who killed Mizell.
Bryant has pleaded not guilty and will go to trial in January.
“We are really happy for Mr. Jordan and his family that justice was served,” John Diaz, one of Jordan’s attorneys, said. Another attorney, Michael Hueston, told Billboard, “On behalf of Mr. Jordan and his family, today’s decision brings a measure of solace as they approach the holiday season.”
Jordan was never sentenced for the killing of his godfather, but awaits trial on unrelated drug charges.
Unlike a traditional not guilty verdict, Jordan’s nixed conviction can be appealed by federal prosecutors.
