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Ronald "Tinard" Washington has been named as a suspect in the killing of Jason Mizell (aka Jam Master Jay). Though an arrest in the case isn't expected anytime soon, this is the first publicly announced suspect to be made in this case - something Jay's family members are happy about.
Washington has been on the investigators radar since the October 2002 shooting which took place inside Jay's Queens recording studio. At that time, he told Newsday he was at the studio the night of the murder, but blamed it on someone else. Now he is being identified by Brooklyn federal prosecutors as the man who brought others into the studio and forced them to the ground at gunpoint, while another shot and killed Jam Master Jay.
The reason an arrest may be further ahead in the future is that investigators have had a difficult time with the case due to reluctant witnesses and conflicting stories (somewhat similarly to the murder of Busta Rhymes bodyguard). From an interview with one of Jay's closest friends, Erik "Shake" James:
Allhiphop: Who were the people that were in the studio that night?S: First of all, I wouldn't be doing this but I heard Randy on Hot 97 today (June 25). The story that he told on the radio, he told me a totally different story as to what happened.
All these dudes say they love Jay, say they'd do this and that. All these people owe Jay more than what they doing. To just sit back and say nothing and everybody is telling a different story. It ain’t like Jay got killed by a sniper from a million yards away, it was people right there. Then I hear him say there was 60 people in the hall? So now that's 65 witnesses and nobody still saw nothing?
I'm already sitting back f*cked up about this sh*t everyday and now I have to figure why the f*ck Randy lied to me.
Washington was convicted earlier this month for six commercial robberies and is also a suspect in the fatal shooting of Randy Walker (a close associate of Tupac Shakur) in 1995. In a sworn statement, however, he denied any connection to the Jay or Walker cases, claiming any previous statements were due to police unjustly hounding him. The filed papers state that Washington "pointed his gun at those present in the studio, ordered them to get on the ground and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell".
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Perhaps you missed this in Tuesday's Daily News:
Jay slay suspect ID'd
Say convicted robber took part in Queens killing of Run-DMC star
BY ERNIE NASPRETTO and JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, April 17th 2007, 4:00 AM
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Jam Master Jay
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The feds for the first time have publicly identified one of the gunmen allegedly responsible for the unsolved murder of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay, the Daily News has learned.
There have been many theories about who killed the founding member of Run-DMC, whose real name was Jason Mizell, in his Hollis, Queens, music studio on Oct. 30, 2002.
But earlier this month, the feds implicated thug Ronald (Tinard) Washington in Mizell's murder in a letter to Judge Nina Gershon.
The judge was presiding over Washington's armed robbery trial in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Prosecutors Sean Haran and Adam Abensohn contend that Washington, 39, and an unnamed associate entered the studio and Washington "pointed his gun at those present in the studio, ordered them on the ground and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell," according to the letter.
The information was revealed because Washington was mulling taking the stand in his robbery trial and prosecutors were obligated to turn over whatever uncharged crimes they planned to cross-examine him about, including Mizell's murder.
Washington confessed his role in the Jam Master Jay slaying to his girlfriend Daynia McDonald, as well as the 1995 murder of Randy (Big Stretch) Walker, who was reportedly the best friend of rapper Tupac Shakur, prosecutors said.
Washington, who was convicted of pulling six commercial robberies and faces life in prison, has not been charged with Mizell's murder.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
"Observant reader" - i'm not sure what you're pointing out, as this is the same story we are covering in our post about it.
Frank Owen broke this case open and named this guy as a suspect in 2003 in an article in Playboy called the Last Days of Jam Master Jay.