2 men convicted of killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay nearly 22 years after rap star's death

FILE -Run-D.M.C.'s Jason Mizell, Jam-Master Jay, poses with teenagers gathered at New York's Madison Square Garden, Oct. 7, 1986, in New York. Two men were convicted of murder Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 in the death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, a brazen 2002 shooting in the rap legend's studio. An anonymous Brooklyn federal jury delivered the verdict in the trial of Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)

More than 20 years after Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay was brazenly gunned down in his recording studio, a jury convicted two men of his murder Tuesday, bringing closure to one of the hip-hop world’s most elusive crimes.

The anonymous Brooklyn federal jury found Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington guilty of killing the pioneering DJ over what prosecutors characterized as revenge for a failed drug deal.

Jay, born Jason Mizell, worked the turntables in Run-DMC as it helped hip-hop break into the pop music mainstream in the 1980s with such hits as “It’s Tricky” and a fresh take on Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”