One of the suspects accused of killing Jam Master Jay is asking a judge to dismiss the case against him- claiming there is evidence of another conspiracy and a witness to back it up.
The Feds have charged Ronald “Tinard” Washington and Karl “Lil D” Jordan with the October 30th, 2002 murder of the pioneering Run-DMC group member.
Federal prosecutors claim Washington and Jordan conspired to murder Jam Master Jay after Washington was cut out of a lucrative, multi kilo cocaine deal.
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According to the Feds, Washington was buzzed into Jay’s Jamaica, Queens, New York studio, while Jordan entered behind him in a mask and fired off two shots.
One struck Jam Master Jay in the head, killing him instantly, while another bullet hit a man named Uriel Rincon in the leg.
Lawyers for Washington just filed documents claiming the government’s case rests on the testimony of a lone eyewitness – Lydia High.
There were multiple people present in the studio when Jay was killed. Those present included: Lydia High, her brother and Jay’s business partner, Randy Allen, Michael Bonds, Uriel Rincon, and a new figure, Yaray Concepcion.
Jay’s nephew, Rodney “Boe Scagz” Jones, claims he came into the studio after the shooting and witnessed the aftermath.
However, due to the studio setup, there were only two eyewitnesses– Lydia High and Uriel Rincon. Rincon has never made a statement, so Federal agents are relying on High’s account of the evening, which is as follows:
“Two black males entered the [sitting room], and both men had guns. . . . Upon entering, one man remained in the doorway, the other man, who was wearing a knit wool mask and holding a gun, ordered Lydia [High] to the floor. The man with the mask then ordered Mr. Mizell to the floor, at which time Uriel Rincon stood up to assist . . . Mr. Mizell. The man with the mask then shot Mr. Mizell, fired another shot, and fled out of the doorway with the other man.”
Lydia High claims Washington held a gun to her and ordered her to get on the ground while the masked man shot Jam Master Jay. Nevertheless, Washington’s lawyers claim there are numerous inconsistencies in Lydia High’s statements after Jay’s murder.
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To begin with, Washington claims he has known Lydia High for years. Yet, she failed to identify Mr. Washington as a participant – despite his frequent presence in the studio.
Furthermore, Lydia High waited almost nine months to identify Washington as a suspect after being presented with a photo array by the police.
Washington says it is impossible that High would not have been able to recognize him immediately due to his close relationship with Jam Master Jay.
Ronald “Tinard” Washington’s lawyers claim another key witness saw something different when Jam Master Jay was murdered.
In 2002, Tanya Edwards told investigators she was working at the front desk for a financial services company named Primerica, which had an office on the same floor as Jay’s studio.
Ms. Edwards had a clear view of anyone entering the building. From her reception desk, Ms. Edwards could also see individuals who walked past the Primerica office to the studio.
On November 1st, the day after Jam Master Jay’s murder, Ms. Edwards told the cops that between 7:15 PM and 7:30 PM, she saw a man and a woman walk past the Primerica office on the way to his studio.
Tanya Edwards said she heard two shots and saw the same man run back down the hallway and out of the building. During the same interview, Ms. Edwards said the woman was wearing a “brown, floppy hat, and the man was wearing a light-blue, velour jumpsuit.”
Edwards said the man she witnessed was “tall and solid, with braids to his neck.” She estimated the man’s age to be in the mid-twenties.
During a follow-up interview ten months later, in August of 2003, Ms. Edwards positively identified Lydia High as the woman who walked in with the shooter.
Washington and his lawyers believe Lydia High could be engaged in a cover-up to possibly protect her brother, Randy Allen, who supposedly benefited from an insurance policy Jam Master Jay had taken out on his own life.
Unfortunately for Washington, when Ms. Edwards was interviewed again in 2016 – almost 14 years later – she said she did not recognize the woman accompanying the man to the studio on October 30th, 2002.
“The passage of time has prejudiced Mr. Washington immensely. Lydia High was the lone eyewitness implicating Mr. Washington in the shooting. In turn, a single eyewitness [Tanya Edwards] simultaneously cast doubt on Ms. High’s account of the shooting and implicated her in it. But because so many years had passed, Ms. Edwards no longer remembered that she identified Lydia High as a participant in the shooting,” Washington’s lawyer Susan G. Kellman explained.
Kellman added that the passage of time since the incident, the intense media coverage surrounding Jam Master Jay’s murder, and the numerous theories about his death had decreased the effectiveness of Washington’s defense team to interview witnesses.
“The only eyewitness placing Mr. Washington in the studio at the time of the murder, Lydia High, may well have been implicated in the attack. But the only eyewitness implicating Ms. High no longer recalls seeing her with the other attacker. The passage of time has substantially prejudiced Mr. Washington’s ability to present a constitutionally sufficient defense,” Kellman said.