Jury finds 2 men guilty on all counts in Jam Master Jay murder trial

NEW YORK — A responsible verdict was reached Tuesday in the homicide trial for 2 males charged with killing Run-D.M.C. star Jam Grasp Jay.

The hip-hop icon, whose actual identify was Jason Mizell, was gunned down in 2002 inside his music studio in Hollis, Queens.

Prosecutors mentioned Mizell’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr., and his childhood buddy, Ronald Washington, killed the DJ after he minimize them out of a cocaine trafficking deal.

Whereas many celebrated the responsible verdict, others mentioned justice got here at a worth.

The jury spent three days deliberating one of the elusive murders in hip-hop historical past.

“Though it appeared that the case had gone chilly and wouldn’t be solved, legislation enforcement by no means wavered in its willpower to deliver Mr. Mizell’s killers to justice,” U.S. Legal professional Breon Peace mentioned. “It is no thriller why it took so lengthy. Witnesses had been terrified that they might be retaliated towards in the event that they cooperated with legislation enforcement.”

“It is positively a very long time coming,” mentioned Carlis Thompson, Mizell’s cousin. “Justice delayed just isn’t at all times justice denied.”

Eyewitnesses testified that Jordan murdered Mizell inside his studio on Oct. 30, 2002, whereas childhood buddy Washington guarded the door with a gun.

However the month-long trial revealed elements of Mizell’s life that the hip-hop icon tried to maintain out of the general public eye — primarily his position in trafficking cocaine. Prosecutors mentioned when Mizell minimize Jordan and Washington out of a deal to promote coke in Baltimore, they conspired to kill him, with the assistance of a 3rd suspect, Jay Bryant.

Bryant was charged final 12 months. Prosecutors say he slipped into the studio and let Jordan and Washington in by a fireplace escape.

Bryant has pleaded not responsible and can face a decide in a separate trial.

When requested if justice got here at a worth, Mizell’s cousin, Ryan Thompson, mentioned, “Sure. [I have] to reply sure as a result of I did not know both till I used to be advised. We wasn’t introduced up like that. That is not how we had been raised.”

Watch Jessica Moore’s report

Protection attorneys referred to as just one witness, a reminiscence skilled, who testified to the crux of their case — the one issues connecting Jordan and Washington to Mizell’s homicide had been growing older reminiscences. The protection additionally tried to pin the homicide on Bryant, the one suspect whose DNA was discovered within the studio — on a hat situated beside Mizell’s physique.

Jacqueline Gonzalez, Jordan’s mom, mentioned, “My son had nothing to do with this crime,” Jordan’s mom, Jacqueline Gonzalez, mentioned Tuesday. “I am nonetheless devastated. I can not consider they discovered him– from all of the info that they obtained from this case, I can not consider that they discovered him responsible.”

Jordan, 40, and Washington, 59, face 20 years to life in federal jail. Protection attorneys have already vowed to attraction the conviction.

Whereas the demise penalty is feasible with these prices, U.S. Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland final June directed Brooklyn federal prosecutors to not search it.

Extra from CBS Information