Ronald Tinard Washington, a suspect in the 2002 murder of Hip Hop legend Jam Master Jay was sentenced Wednesday to 17 years in prison for a series of non-related robberies.
Federal prosecutors wanted the judge to hand Washington a more severe sentence by considering his possible involvement in the unsolved murder of Jay, as well as a previous killing Washington allegedly committed in 1995.
According to court papers, Washington and an unidentified accomplice entered the studio in which Jam Master Jay was and “pointed his gun at those present … ordered them to get on the ground, and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell.”Washington later confessed murdering Jay to his ex-girlfriend. In addition, Washington is also suspected as the trigger man in the 1995 slaying of Tupac‘s friend Randy “Stretch” Walker, exactly one year after Tupac was ambushed at the Quad studios.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Nina Gershon vehemently opposed considering the murders in her decision and adhered to the sentence recommended by federal guidelines.
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“One might think if it was such an overwhelming [murder] case, someone would have prosecuted him, instead of hanging a murder on a string of robberies with a BBgun,”Gershon said.
Washington‘s defense lawyer Susan Kellman argued to the NY Daily News that after investigating the rapper’s murder for years, the feds have come up with nothing more than “gossip.”
“If the government had a case, they’d bring it,”Kellman said. “The reality is, they have no idea who [killed Jam Master Jay].”
