Jam Master Jay suspect named

He may offer key to rapper's murder

A suspect has been named in the murder of Jam Master Jay, who was gunned down at his New York recording studio in 2002.

Prosecutors have identified Ronald “Tenad” Washington as the armed accomplice of the unidentified gunman who shot the rapper, reports the Associated Press.

Jay, real name Jason Mizell, was a member of pioneering rap group Run-DMC, and is also known for his 1986 cover of Aerosmith‘s ‘Walk This Way’, which hit the top of the charts in both the UK and the US.

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Tenad has been convicted of several armed robberies since Jay‘s death, and is also a suspect in the 1995 fatal shooting of Randy Walker, an associate of late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Washington — the first suspect to be publicly identified in the Jay murder — has denied any involvement in either of the cases. In a sworn statement, he alleged that hostile detectives hounded him about the killing of his “childhood friend” Mizell, as well as other crimes.

A spokesperson for the Mizell family said they were happy to hear that a suspect had been named.

“We’re relieved there’s some information coming out, although we understand that it’s not the full story,” spokeswoman Fern Yates said.

–By our Los Angeles staff.

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