A full 21 years after his murder, turntable wizard Jam Master Jay can stop spinning in his grave.
All three suspects in the shocking 2002 execution of the Run-DMC DJ inside his Queens recording studio may finally appear in a courtroom for trial next year, although the news did little to appease Jay’s family and friends as they wait impatiently for justice in his death.
“It’s a drag, to be honest,” said Doc Thompson, a cousin of the slain Jason Mizell. “The word in the news is a trial next year? So we’re all longing for 2024. And Jay’s birthday is Jan. 21.”
The recent identification of a third suspect spurred the latest round of legal wrangling, with new defendant Jay Bryant winning a court battle for a separate trial rather than joining the scheduled Jan. 29, 2024, prosecution of co-defendants Ronald “Tinard” Washington and Karl Jordan Jr.
But even that decision came with a twist revealed last week: Federal prosecutors are now seeking to try all three at once, with separate juries hearing the cases simultaneously inside a Brooklyn Federal Court. One would supposedly hear the case against Washington and Jordan, while a second would decide the fate of Bryant, a new court filing revealed.
“I’ve done these before, they’re not inherently wrong,” said longtime defense attorney Ron Kuby. “They’re longer than a single trial, but shorter than two separate trials. That’s the idea.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer DJ with Run-DMC was gunned down point blank on the night of Oct. 30, 2002, with prosecutors alleging the beloved maestro, 37, was killed in cold blood after cutting the assassins out of a lucrative multi-kilogram cocaine deal.
Bryant, the newest defendant, won a recent legal battle to sever his case from the prosecution of Washington and Jordan, whose August 2020 arrests seemed to signal that prosecutions in the long-cold-case killing were finally coming. Court papers indicated the defendants were likely to blame one another for the shooting inside Mizell’s Hollis recording studio once the case finally begins before an anonymous jury seated amid concerns of witness intimidation.
Thompson recalled how Mizell stood as godfather to defendant Jordan at his baptism.
“His grandmother and Jay’s mother were friends,” he said. “They went to the same church. … Jason took care of these people. To bite the hand that feeds you, it’s the worst thing you can do.”
Washington, for example, was reportedly crashing on a couch in Jay’s home in the days before Mizell’s slaying.
Brooklyn Federal Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall had previously granted the motion by attorneys for Bryant seeking a trial apart from the prosecution of his co-defendants, but federal prosecutors filed new legal papers asking for a single trial heard by two juries — one considering his case and a second to determine the fate of Jordan and Washington.
Prosecutors said Bryant’s DNA was found on an article of clothing left behind in Mizell’s recording studio after the killing.
Under the proposed scenario, both juries would sit simultaneously during the prosecution case, while the twin panels would separately hear the defense cases presented by attorneys for Washington and Jordan and the lawyer representing Bryant. Washington’s attorney Susan Kellman quickly responded in opposition to the scenario, noting the court had already granted Bryant a separate trial.
“In its motion, the government articulates the genius of their two-jury plan,” she wrote. “… Indeed, it argues that judicial economy dictates that a two-jury trial be held. Shame on them. Mr. Washington hopes that your honor will opt to protect the constitutional safeguards enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, rather than the cost-saving measures proposed by government counsel.”
Hip-hop historian Bill Adler, a longtime friend of Mizell, welcomed the news of the long-delayed trial — or perhaps, trials.
“I’ve been feeling more hopeful the last couple of years,” said Adler. “Finally, his murder will be solved. But it seems like Jason wanted to have it both ways: the glamour and money of worldwide fame and the edgy transgressiveness of street life.
“It was always a dangerous balance, but he didn’t deserve to be killed over it.”
