BROOKLYN (CN) — Ralph Mullgrav, a Baltimore-based drug dealer, said Monday in federal court that he refused a drug deal with hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay in 2002 if Ronald Washington, one of the defendants accused of conspiring to kill Jason “Jay” Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, was involved.
Prosecutors say Washington killed Mizell in October 2002 in the former Run-DMC disc jockey’s Queens recording studio after being cut out of a drug deal. Washington is being tried alongside Karl Jordan Jr., who prosecutors say fired the gun that killed Mizell.
In the summer of 2002, Mullgrav said Mizell had visited him in Baltimore to ask if he could help him transport 10 to 20 kilograms of cocaine.
“Jason wasn’t a drug dealer,” Mullgrav said Monday. “He was just moving it to make ends meet, here and there.”
Mullgrav served 12 years in prison for a federal drug conviction before his 2013 release, prosecutors said Monday.
When Mizell asked Mullgrav to include Washington in the deal, also known as “Tinard,” he refused.
“He was a problem,” Mullgrav said of Washington, though he didn’t explain why.
According to prosecutors, Washington had expected to earn about $200,000 from the job.
Mullgrav also testified he saw Washington pull up in a car around the time of his meeting with Mizell. When he saw Washington, Mullgrav said he went to get his gun that was stashed in a tire on top of his car.
“And what were you going to do when you got it,” U.S. Attorney Mark Misorek asked.
“Shoot Tinard,” Mullgrav responded.
Mullgrav’s testimony came a week after he was arrested for refusing to comply with a court summons. But moments before he was expected to take the stand, Mullgrav agreed to testify.
Lydia High, Mizell’s former business manager, also testified Monday.
The night Mizell was killed in 2002, High had dropped by the recording studio to have him sign some paperwork regarding a new musical group he was signing to his record label, JMJ Records, before she was supposed to meet a friend for dinner. According to High, Mizell needed to sign the paperwork that evening because he was supposed to leave on tour with Run-DMC the next day.
When she arrived at the studio, High said she noticed Mizell’s gun on his armrest and asked him to put it away because it made her uncomfortable.
Mizell kept the gun out. Though High said she had seen Mizell with his gun before, she said having it out was “unusual.”
After Mizell signed the paperwork, High noticed someone walk into the studio.
“Jason smiled, he smiled,” High said. “Then he gave that person a pound.”
As tears began, High testified the next thing she remembered was hearing the gun.
“Jay said ‘Oh shit,’ and then his facial expression changed,” High said, explaining the moment she noticed the gunshot.
As High tried to escape, she said she noticed another man blocking the door who pointed a gun at her and told her to get on the ground.
High said she recognized the two men as Washington and Jordan Jr. but told the police she didn’t see their faces.
“I was afraid for my life,” High said. “I saw something I couldn’t believe.”
On redirect, U.S. Attorney Artie McConnell asked High if she was still scared today.
“Yes I am,” High said.
The defendants face a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York to not seek the death penalty.
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