Prosecutors argue in a new appeal that a judge was wrong to overturn the conviction of the man who allegedly shot and killed Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay in a Queens recording studio in 2002.
Karl Jordan Jr., the godson of the rap icon (Jay Mizell), was one of two men found guilty by a jury in 2024 for the long-unsolved murder. But a New York federal judge set aside that verdict and acquitted Jordan at the end of 2025, finding that there was no evidence of a motive for the then-18-year-old to kill his godfather.
The U.S. government is now appealing that ruling and urging the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate Jordan’s conviction. Prosecutors argue in a Thursday (April 16) brief that the judge unfairly expected them to produce a “smoking-gun” while ignoring reams of damning evidence against Jordan.
“These convictions were supported by the testimony of 38 witnesses, including witnesses who saw Jordan shoot Mizell, witnesses who knew of Jordan’s involvement in the narcotics conspiracy and witnesses who heard Jordan admitting to the murder,” reads the brief.
Jay’s shocking killing at the age of 37 was for years one of hip-hop’s famous cold cases, joining the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. Though witnesses were in the room when the murder happened and police generated a number of leads, it wasn’t until 2020 that Jordan was charged alongside Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend.
Government lawyers claim Washington guarded the door to a Queens recording studio while Jordan shot Jay in the head at close range. The alleged motive was a breakdown in the trio’s joint cocaine dealing operation; prosecutors say Jordan and Washington grew angry after being cut out of a lucrative drug deal in Baltimore.
U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall affirmed Washington’s conviction, ruling there was ample evidence to show he was disgruntled about the Baltimore deal and had a clear motive. However, the judge said Jordan was never part of this specific deal, and therefore, the prosecution’s motive for him was “impermissibly speculative.”
Thursday’s appeal brief argues that in making this acquittal decision, Judge DeArcy Hall “overlooked and minimized evidence that permitted the jury to find that Jordan had several narcotics-related motives to murder Mizell.”
“The jury could have reasonably inferred that Jordan killed Mizell as retaliation for failing to secure the lucrative Baltimore deal for him and Washington, or to eliminate Mizell to further his and Washington’s roles in their shared narcotics conspiracy,” write the prosecutors.
An attorney for Jordan did not immediately return a request for comment on the appeal on Thursday. He will eventually file an appellate brief of his own responding to the prosecution’s arguments.
Jordan remains in custody while awaiting another trial on separate drug charges, and there’s an ongoing court fight over whether he should now be granted bail. Charges remain pending against Jay Bryant, a third alleged co-conspirator in the Jam Master Jay murder, though recent docket entries suggest that he may soon plead guilty.
