Editor's note:
Rodney Jones' nickname was incorrectly labeled as "Little Dee." "Lil D" is the nickname of Karl Jordan Jr., and the correction has been made to the article below.
In recently released court records, federal prosecutors say that one of Jam Master Jay's alleged killers asked the famed DJ to "put him on" in the cocaine industry, shot Jay's nephew, possessed contraband cellphones in jail, and discussed with his co-defendant who might be "snitching" against them, among other revelations.
The records lay out large portions of the case against Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald "Tinard" Washington, who are accused of murdering Jam Master Jay in October 2002 over a dispute involving a large cocaine deal. The records allege that the defendants admitted guilt to each other and other uncharged co-conspirators and that Jordan was identified by eyewitnesses to Jay's shooting.
According to the records, roughly seven months after Jay's death, Jordan shot Jay's nephew in the leg on Hollis Avenue. He was arrested and charged, but the case fell apart after the victim refused to cooperate. A Billboard article from the time identified the victim as Rodney Jones. Prosecutors say the motive was Jones recording a song that accused Jordan of murdering Jay.
Additionally, the records allege that Jordan came to Jay with a request that Jay "put him on" in the cocaine industry and that Jay "subsequently provided Jordan with a small quantity of cocaine to determine if Jordan could handle selling larger quantities." The motive for Jay's killing, according to prosecutors, was Jay cutting Washington out of a 10-kilo cocaine deal.
Jordan, a rapper who used the stage name Young Yadi and is referred to as "Lil D" in court records, was part of a group called Rich Fly Gee$, and prosecutors have requested to use some of his lyrics as evidence. In one song, for instance, he raps, "we aim for the head, no body shots, and we stick around just to see the body drop." This request comes amid a national movement to limit or outright abolish the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases, including a recent law passed in California that restricts the practice.
Washington, meanwhile, is described as a man with a reputation in Queens for "possessing firearms, committing armed robberies and engaging in narcotics trafficking, often as an enforcer or security for traffickers." Prosecutors allege he took Jordan under his wing after serving a 10-year prison term for robbery in Maryland.
After the two were arrested and charged in 2020 with murdering Jay, they reportedly talked at the jail, sometimes by passing "kites," about who might be cooperating with federal authorities. In several recorded jail calls, Jordan referenced having a contraband cellphone, sometimes telling people to "text" or "Facetime" him, according to the records.
The trial is scheduled to start in early 2023.
Written by: Nate Gartrell
