Two men have been found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder

More than two decades after the death of Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay, and several years after the murder case was declared cold since there had been no movement for so long, two men have been found guilty of killing the DJ. That’s according to Variety, which says that Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. (Jam Master Jay’s godson) were found guilty today of killing Jay—whose real name was Jason Mizell—as revenge after they got cut out of a drug deal. Variety says a third man has also been accused of being involved, but his trial won’t happen until 2026.

Mizell was killed in October of 2002 in his studio in Jamaica, Queens, with Variety saying that he had “turned to the drug trade after his success with Run-DMC began to fade” (a suggestion that his family has pushed back against). Mizell was shot in the head at point-blank range by Jordan, with another shot hitting his assistant Uriel “Tony” Rincon—who, along with a woman who worked at Mizell’s label, were the only witnesses to the shooting. Apparently, they both said they had been intimidated by Jordan and denied knowing who had murdered Mizell, which is why the case went unsolved for so long. Both Jordan and Washington are facing a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Mizell was one of the founding members of Run-DMC, one of the most iconic and influential hip-hop groups of the ‘80s, alongside Joseph Simmons (a.k.a. Run, or Rev Run these days) and Darryl McDaniels (a.k.a. D.M.C.). Mizell was the trio’s DJ, and though the surviving duo has reunited here and there for various tributes and hall of fame inductions, Run-DMC officially disbanded after Mizell’s murder.