Two men are indicted in 2002 killing of Run-DMC hip hop star Jam Master Jay
- Law enforcement officials on Monday said two suspects had been indicted for killing Jason ‘Jay’ Mizell, also known as Jam Master Jay
- Jay was 37 when he was shot in the head in his Queens recording studio in 2002
- Federal prosecutors were expected to announce the charges at a news conference Monday afternoon
- Police sources identified the suspects to NBC4 as Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan
Two suspects have been indicted in the 2002 killing of hip hop artist Jam Master Jay, which until now had been one of New York City’s most notorious unsolved murders, law enforcement officials say.
The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. Federal prosecutors are expected to announce the charges at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Police sources identified the suspects to NBC4 as Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan. Washington was already in prison, and Jordan was arrested by the ATF on Sunday, according to the outlet.
Jason ‘Jay’ Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, was a member of 1980s hip-hop sensation Run-DMC, behind hits such as It’s Tricky and the Aerosmith remake collaboration Walk This Way.
The 37-year-old Jay was shot once in the head in his Queens recording studio by a masked assailant on October 30, 2002,, police said at the time. He left behind a wife and three children.
Two suspects have been indicted in the 2002 killing of hip hop artist Jam Master Jay (pictured), which until now had been one of New York City’s most notorious unsolved killings, two law enforcement officials told the Associated Press on Monday
Jay was one of the three rap superstars from Hollis Queens who made up Run-DMC, the others being Joseph ‘Run’ Simmons and Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels.
The trio became known as the pioneers of hip-hop in the early eighties, popularizing the then-underground music movement for the masses.
They went on to become the first hip-hop act to have a gold album, a platinum record, Grammy nomination and, in 2009, they became only the second hip-hop group in history to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Run-DMC were the first rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, and they were the first to appear on American Bandstand and have their videos played on MTV.
It was Jay who is credited for creating the band’s distinctive style of wearing heavy gold chains, black hats, and Adidas shell-toe sneakers minus the laces, once saying, ‘How I dressed in high school is the way we dressed… My vibe is our vibe.’
Their reign came to a tragic end in 2002 after Jay was shot and killed at his recording studio.
In 2007, federal prosecutors named Ronald Washington as an accomplice in the murder, but no assailant was ever convicted of pulling the trigger.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding Jay’s death were chronicled in a 2018 Netflix documentary called ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?
The film failed to come to a conclusion about who committed the killing.
This is a developing story.
Jay (right) was one of the three rap superstars from Hollis Queens who made up Run-DMC, the others being Joseph ‘Run’ Simmons (left) and Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels (right)