Federal Judge Grants $1M Bond to Jam Master Jay Suspect

A federal judge in Brooklyn granted $1 million bond on Monday to Karl Jordan Jr., a man whose conviction for the 2002 murder of Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay was overturned last year, paving the way for his possible release while separate legal matters play out.

U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall approved the bond package during a hearing in the Eastern District of New York, where Jordan has been detained since his 2020 arrest. The decision came three months after Hall acquitted Jordan of the murder charge, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the killing was connected to narcotics trafficking, an essential element of the federal case. Jordan, 42, remains in custody for now as Brooklyn federal prosecutors have until Friday to appeal the bond ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If they do not appeal, he could be freed once paperwork is processed and would be subject to electronic location monitoring.

The murder of Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, occurred on October 30, 2002, when he was shot in the head inside his recording studio in Hollis, Queens. Mizell, a pioneering DJ who helped propel hip-hop into the mainstream with Run-DMC hits such as "It's...