Jordan Jr. will stay in custody awaiting a separate trial on drug expenses, whereas Ronald Washington’s convictions stands.

Nearly two years after a jury delivered its verdict, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall overturned the homicide conviction of Karl Jordan Jr., considered one of two males discovered responsible within the 2002 killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay.

In her ruling, Hall concluded prosecutors failed to ascertain that Jordan had a motive to kill the legendary turntablist, born Jason Mizell. During the trial, an eyewitness testified that he noticed Jordan shoot Mizell—his personal godfather—inside a Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002.

Prosecutors argued the killing stemmed from a dispute over a failed drug deal, however Jordan’s protection maintained that the proof didn’t assist that declare.

“We are really happy for Mr. Jordan and his family that justice was served,” lawyer John Diaz wrote in an electronic mail following the choice.

Jordan, who had not but been sentenced, stays in custody awaiting a separate trial on drug expenses that date again to years after Jam Master Jay’s dying.

Judge Hall, nonetheless, denied a request from co-defendant Ronald Washington for both an acquittal or a brand new trial.

Mizell, the influential DJ behind Run-DMC’s rise, helped propel Hip-Hop into the Nineteen Eighties pop mainstream with tracks like “It’s Tricky” and the group’s genre-blending remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” His slaying has lengthy stood as considered one of Hip-Hop’s most infamous unsolved circumstances.

Jordan Jr. and Washington have been arrested and indicted for Jam Master Jay’s homicide in August 2020.​ According to case histories, each males have been taken into federal custody after a grand jury returned an indictment charging them in reference to the 2002 killing.

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