Federal prosecutors are firing back at claims that they waited too long to bring charges over the murder of Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay, saying at least part of delay was because the defendants themselves tried to “intimidate and silence potential witnesses.”
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The new filing came a month after Karl Jordan, Jr. and Ronald Washington. argued that the long wait – they were charged in 2020 for Jay’s long-unsolved 2002 murder – means that they wouldn’t be able to properly defend himself against the accusations.
In a response Monday, prosecutors said those claims “ring particularly hollow” because bringing charges in the famous cold-case was made even more difficult thanks to interference by the two accused killers.
“The government is aware of at least four separate witnesses that the defendants have endeavored to identify and silence through threats and coercion,” government attorneys told a federal judge.
In his motion last month, Jordan argued that “hauling him into court” after decades of delay would cause real problems for his defense. Cell phone records that would support his alibi are no longer available, he said, and witnesses can’t be found to back his arguments.
But on Monday, the feds called those arguments “baseless” – arguing that, if anything, the long delay hurts the government’s ability to prove its charges and that the delay was clearly not an intentional form of gamesmanship.
“The government may properly delay an indictment for legitimate considerations, including the need to gather and review evidence in a complex investigation,” prosecutors wrote. “That is what occurred here, and the interval between the offense and the indictment was necessary for the government to prove the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.
Run-D.M.C., a trio consisting of Jam Master Jay, Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, is widely credited as one of the most influential early acts in hip-hop history. The 1985 album King of Rock was hip-hop’s first platinum album, and the group’s 1986 cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was gunned down in his studio in Hollis, Queens, on Oct. 30, 2002. For nearly two decades, the case remained unsolved, but in August 2020, federal prosecutors charged Jordan and Ronald Washington with the killing.
According to the prosecutors, Washington and Jordan broke into Jay’s studio on the night of Oct. 30, 2002. Washington allegedly initially pointed a gun at another individual in the studio; as he was doing so, Jordan allegedly fired two shots, one of which struck Jay in the head at close range, killing him almost instantly.
The motive for the killing was allegedly a drug deal gone bad. Prosecutors say Jay had arranged to purchase 10 kilograms of cocaine, which would be distributed in Maryland by Washington, Jordan and others. When Jay backed out of the deal, prosecutors say, the two decided to kill him.
Barring a delay, a trial is set for February 2023.
Read the full legal filing here:
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