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The perpetrators who allegedly shot and killed Jam Master Jay over 20 years ago are finally set to go to trial.
According to a report Billboard published on Monday, September 19, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, who were charged with the alleged murder in 2020, have received their trial date after a judge denied their motion to dismiss the case. Their lawyers previously argued that prosecutors waited way too long to charge and evidence that would be pertinent to their defense was not available. In response, the judge deemed their argument "too speculative" to dismiss the case.
“Conspicuously absent from Jordan’s argument is any factual support for his claim,” Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall wrote. “In the absence of any factual support, the court has no idea what Jordan believes the phone records contain, how they could conceivably contradict the Government’s evidence, and how those contradictions could conceivably demonstrate that Jordan did not commit the crime.”
According to prosecutors, Jordan Jr., aka "Little D", was the shooter who fired two gunshots at Run-DMC's DJ, born Jason Mizell, in his studio in Hollis, Queens back in 2002. The 38-year-old was hit with the indictment, along with Washington, in August 2020. Both men were charged with one count of murder while engaged in drug trafficking and another count of firearm-related murder. Jordan Jr. was also charged with seven counts of cocaine distribution between April and June 2017 and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Washington was indicted following a 2003 Playboy article in which he positively identified Jordan Jr. as the shooter. In the story he told from behind bars, Washington claimed that he saw "Little D" running away from the scene after he heard three gunshots.
“I’m positive it was Little D," Washington reportedly said in the article. "I looked him right in his face before he ran off. Little D told me, ‘My pops wasn’t supposed to shoot Jay. That wasn’t supposed to happen.'"
Earlier this year, Jordan Jr.'s lawyer requested to have his own murder trial apart from Washington or to drop the case altogether. Instead, Judge denied the motion and scheduled the trial for February 2023.