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NEW YORK – A man whose conviction in the high-profile murder of hip-hop icon Jam Master Jay was recently overturned is seeking release on a $1 million bond. This request comes as prosecutors plan to appeal, and the man remains entangled in separate drug charges.
Attorneys for Karl Jordan Jr., led by John Diaz, filed a motion on Friday arguing for his release, citing “seismic changes in circumstances” since a judge vacated his murder conviction in the death of the Run-DMC DJ. They are advocating for his freedom under strict conditions, including electronic monitoring.
Prosecutors have chosen not to comment on the case, and a date has yet to be set for the hearing regarding Jordan’s bond request.
Jordan, along with co-defendant Ronald Washington, was convicted in 2024 for the murder that sent shockwaves through the music industry and baffled authorities for nearly 20 years.
However, on December 19, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall determined that the evidence was insufficient to uphold Jordan’s federal murder conviction. She subsequently overturned the jury’s decision against Jordan, leading to his acquittal, but maintained Washington’s conviction.
Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, was gunned down in his New York City studio in 2002. He was 37.
As the DJ in Run-DMC, he helped rap break through to mainstream audiences in the 1980s with such hits as “It’s Tricky” and a remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
Jordan, now 42, was Mizell’s godson. Washington, 61, was a longtime friend. Prosecutors said the two killed the DJ out of greed and anger over a failed drug deal Mizell was engineering. Washington and Jordan denied the charges.
Prosecutors are appealing the reversal of Jordan’s conviction. Regarding the unrelated federal drug charges, prosecutors and Jordan’s lawyers have indicated that they’re open to plea talks. He pleaded not guilty to the charges years ago.
During his more than five years so far in Brooklyn’s troubled federal jail, Jordan was stabbed in the back 18 times during an inmate brawl last February. His lawyers said in Friday’s filing that he has enduring “physical, mental and emotional scars.”
DeArcy Hall commiserated at a hearing last week, when Jordan was in court for the first time since the attack.
“It shouldn’t have happened to you,” she said. “It shouldn’t have happened to anyone.”
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