BROOKLYN (CN) — Over 20 years after one of New York City’s most infamous unsolved murders, eyewitness Tony Rincon said Wednesday he did not reveal hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay’s shooter because he was shocked that it was someone he knew.
Rincon had been friends with Jason “Jay” Mizell, or Jam Master Jay, for over five years when the former Run-DMC member was gunned down in his Queens recording studio in 2002. According to Rincon, Mizell had been his mentor since they met when Rincon was still in high school.
“I never wanted to be an artist, so I focused on the business side which I learned from him,” Rincon said.
Rincon eventually began working at Mizell’s recording studio where he assisted with phone calls, organizing events and transporting artists.
On Oct. 30, 2002, Rincon said Mizell walked in with his 380-caliber handgun and placed it on the armrest to his left. The pair then started to play football video game “John Madden” while seated next to each other on the lounge area of Mizell’s studio.
Then, Rincon said, Karl Jordan Jr. walked in through the front door.
“He walked directly to Jay and almost gave a potential handshake … at the same time, that’s when I heard a shot, couple shots,” Rincon said.
Jordan is named as a defendant alongside Ronald Washington for conspiring to kill Mizell after a drug deal went sour. Another man, Jay Bryant, was also named as a defendant last year but will be tried separately.
Rincon said he received a phone call from his mom around the same time Jordan, who was Mizell’s godson, leaned forward to greet him. Once he heard the gunshots, he looked up and saw Mizell falling to the floor. Around the same time, he noticed he had been shot straight through his left leg.
He added that he saw Washington, also known as “Tinard,” standing in the doorway and yelling at Lydia High, who also worked with Mizell, to stay down.
After Mizell fell, Rincon said, Jordan “shrugged” his body off him and ran out the door.
“He turned to his left, and ran right back out,” Rincon said, noting Jordan’s neck tattoo as he turned away.
Randy Allen, Mizell’s business partner, then grabbed Mizell’s gun and ran in the direction Jordan and Washington left.
Rincon said he saw both Jordan and Washington on multiple occasions. Jordan, who Rincon referred to “Little D,” would sometimes come by the recording studio. Though Washington would almost never stop by the studio, Rincon said he had seen him around the neighborhood a handful of times.
But when police officers asked Rincon who shot him, he said he didn’t know.
“I was scared,” Rincon said through tears. “A lot of things going on at the same time. I was surprised at who I saw and what happened.”
Days after the murder, Rincon said he told Allen privately who he saw shoot Mizell.
“At first he didn’t believe me either,” Rincon said.
When Rincon went to Mizell’s funeral over a week later, he said Jordan approached him and his mom with a group of friends.
According to Rincon, Jordan asked him who did it.
“Uncomfortable,” Rincon said when U.S. Attorney Mark Misorek asked him how he felt about Rincon’s question. “At the time it felt like he was probing me.”
For almost 15 years, Rincon remained silent on who he saw that night. During Wednesday’s testimony, he maintained that was because he feared what would happen if he spoke up.
“I was scared. I did not want to affect my mom and myself,” Rincon said.
But in 2017, Rincon testified in front of a grand jury that he saw Jordan shoot Mizell and Washington standing in the doorway.
The jury, picked last week, will remain anonymous. In a early January 2024 filing , prosecutors wrote there has already been evidence of witness tampering and intimidating by defendants both directly and by others acting on their behalf.
If found guilty, the defendants face a minimum sentence 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 not to seek the death penalty.
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