Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay’s godson has gone on trial in connection with his murder, more than 20 years after his death.
The music icon, real name Jason Mizell, was shot in the head while at his recording studio in Queens in October, 2002, and died at the age of 37.
His godson, Karl Jordan Jr, has been accused of murdering him as revenge for being cut out of a drug deal – the 39-year-old was arrested alongside Ronald Washington, 59, in 2020.
On Monday, prosecutors told a court in New York how the pair set up an ‘execution’ against the It’s Tricky star after the deal didn’t go to plan.
‘It was a brutal crime,’ Assistant US Attorney Miranda Gonzalez said during the opening statements said, via the New York Post. ‘The defendants had killed a world-famous musician in front of people they know.’
Describing Mizell’s death as an ‘ambush’ and an ‘execution’, she added: ‘And you’ll learn that it was motivated by greed and revenge.’
They alleged that he had turned to the drug trade to support his lifestyle when his music prospects began to fade, and had become a ‘middle man’ in cocaine deals.
According to Reuters, the court heard that his friend, Washington, and Jordan – who was 18 at the time – thought they would be involved in a cocaine shipment worth nearly $200,000, but were eventually shunned from the agreement.
Gonzales claimed that they were left enraged and plotted to kill Mizell in revenge, after being ‘left with nothing’.
It was alleged that a third man, Jay Bryant, went into his New York studio and let Washington and Jordan into the venue through a locked fire exit – where the latter shot Mizell.
Bryant will stand trial separately in 2026.
Defense lawyers denied all claims, insisting that they both ‘have no clue who did it’.
The outlet reports that Washington’s legal team, led by Ezra Spilke, told the court: ‘Why bite the hand that feeds you? Why kill the person you depend on?’
Spilke added that there wasn’t any forensic evidence tying his client to the incident.
If convicted, they both face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of at least 20 years.
The trial continues.