Karl Jordan Jr. wants out of jail on a $1 million bond after a federal judge threw out his murder conviction in the Jam Master Jay case.
Jordan’s lawyers filed papers Friday asking for his release while prosecutors appeal the December ruling. U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall overturned Jordan’s conviction but kept co-defendant Ronald Washington behind bars.
The 42-year-old Jordan was Jam Master Jay’s godson. He and Washington were convicted in February 2024 for killing the Run-DMC turntable legend in his Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002.
Prosecutors said the two men shot Jam Master Jay over a failed drug deal. They claimed Jordan and Washington killed the DJ because he cut them out of a Baltimore cocaine operation.
But Judge Hall said prosecutors never proved Jordan had a motive to kill his godfather. Eyewitnesses testified that Jordan fired the fatal shot, but the judge found no evidence that he was angry about the drug deal.
Uriel “Tony” Rincon said he saw Jordan fire the fatal shot. Lydia High said she saw a man with a neck tattoo give JMJ a “pound” before gunfire erupted.
High also testified that Washington pointed a gun at her when she tried to escape.
“The court is not convinced,” Hall wrote in her 29-page ruling. “There is simply no evidence suggesting that Jordan felt cheated by the failure of the Baltimore deal.”
Washington’s conviction stands. The judge said evidence showed Washington was excluded from the Baltimore deal and wanted revenge against Jam Master Jay.
Jordan has spent more than five years in Brooklyn’s federal jail. He was stabbed 18 times in the back during an inmate fight last February. His lawyers said the attack left him with “physical, mental and emotional scars.”
Judge Hall told Jordan at a recent hearing: “It shouldn’t have happened to you. It shouldn’t have happened to anyone.”
Jordan still faces separate federal drug charges from years after Jam Master Jay’s death. He pleaded not guilty to those charges. His lawyers and prosecutors are discussing a possible plea deal. The proposed $1 million bond includes electronic monitoring.
No hearing date has been set yet. Prosecutors are appealing Jordan’s acquittal. They declined to comment on his bond request.
Jordan maintains that co-defendant Jay Bryant shot Jam Master Jay. Bryant faces a separate trial scheduled for May 2026. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Bryant’s trial will determine if prosecutors can finally close the book on Jam Master Jay’s murder.
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