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

Two men were convicted of murder in the death of Jam Master Jay, a brazen 2002 shooting in the rap legend’s studio.

star Jam Master Jay was brazenly gunned down in his recording studio, two men close to him were convicted Tuesday of murder, marking a moment authorities had long awaited in one of the hip-hop world’s most elusive cases. An anonymous Brooklyn federal jury found Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington guilty of killing the pioneering DJ in 2002 over what prosecutors characterized as revenge for a failed drug deal. Mizell had been part of Run-D.M.C.’s anti-drug message, delivered through a public service announcement and such lyrics as “we are not thugs / we don’t use drugs.” But according to prosecutors and trial testimony, he racked up debts after the group’s heyday and moonlighted as a cocaine middleman to cover his bills and habitual generosity to friends.

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