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It’s been less than a month since the long-overdue trial of Jam Master Jay’s alleged killers began in a court of law in New York City. And it seems like a verdict will soon come as closing arguments in the case were heard Tuesday (Feb. 20).
According to Raw Story, prosecutors told an anonymous jury that the iconic Hip-Hop legend (born Jason William Mizel) was murdered by the defendants as part of a drug deal that went awry, which led to Ronald Washington and the alleged shooter, Karl Jordan Jr., gunning down Jam Master Jay in his music studio in Queens on Oct. 30, 2002. While no one knew who or why anyone would murder a Hip-Hop icon like Jay in cold blood, in the end it seems to have been tied to a drug deal that went left after Jay tried to cut both men out of a deal he was completing.
Raw Story reports:
“This case is not complicated,” said assistant US attorney Artie McConnell in delivering the government’s final arguments, which followed some three weeks of witness testimony, including from alleged eyewitnesses, friends and law enforcement.
“It’s about greed, it’s about money, it’s about jealousy,” the prosecutor said before spending approximately two hours reiterating the timeline of events and web of alleged actors and witnesses for the jury.
The prosecution alleges that as part of a drug deal dispute, Jordan — the slain musician’s godson — shot a 40-caliber bullet into Mizell’s head, as Washington held others in the room back at gunpoint.
Jam Master Jay was only 37 years old.
As to why Jay got involved in the drug game, prosecutors said that the music icon got in the street game to not only support the lifestyle that he built for himself, but to also maintain lives of those close to him as the royalties he was earning from his career had began to dry up.
Now that prosecutors have had their say in the case, defense lawyers for Jordan and Washington will deliver their rebuttal to the accusation Wednesday (Feb. 21), and do what they can to help their clients avoid a lengthy prison term.
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