Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay is shot and killed in his Queens studio
Jason 'Jam Master Jay' Mizell — Run-DMC's DJ and the architect of the group's stripped, rock-leaning sound — is shot in his 24/7 Studios at 90-10 Merrick Boulevard in Hollis, Queens, around 7:30 PM. He dies at the scene. The killing remains officially unsolved until 2024, when a federal jury convicts Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington of the murder.
Why it matters
Mizell's killing ends Run-DMC as a working unit (Run and DMC retire the group within weeks). It is also the moment the genre confronts that even a 37-year-old Hall-of-Fame-bound foundational figure is not safe from the kind of street violence that took Pac and Biggie. The 22-year gap between the killing and the federal conviction is its own story about how the law has treated hip-hop deaths.
Branches
Citations 3
- B
- B The New York Times — 2 Men Convicted of Murder in 2002 Killing of Jam Master Jay Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- B