Federal Judge Overturns Conviction in Killing of D.J. Jam Master Jay

Karl Jordan Jr., godson of the musician, was convicted last year of murder in the service of a drug deal. The judge found that the government had not proved the motive.

A federal judge on Friday overturned the conviction of a man for killing Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, the pioneering D.J. of the rap group Run-DMC whose unsolved murder had confounded investigators for nearly two decades.

The man, Karl Jordan Jr., was convicted in February 2024 of carrying out the killing of Mr. Mizell, his godfather. Ronald Washington, a longtime close friend of Mr. Mizell, was also found guilty in the killing. Prosecutors said that Mr. Jordan had shot the fatal bullet into Mr. Mizell’s head, and that Mr. Jordan and Mr. Washington had been angry that the D.J. had cut them out of a drug deal.

The specific charges against Mr. Jordan, 42, hinged on proving that he had killed Mr. Mizell while engaged in a narcotics conspiracy. But the judge in the case, LaShann DeArcy Hall, wrote in her 29-page ruling that the government lacked proof that the murder had been drug-related.

She also denied Mr. Washington’s motion for an acquittal, writing that in his case, the government had proved the motive.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York said the office was “reviewing the decision.”

It is not yet clear whether Mr. Jordan will be freed from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he had been awaiting sentencing since last year. A lawyer for Mr. Jordan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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