NEW YORK — A judge Friday voided the conviction of one of the two men found guilty of the 2002 killing of Run-D.M.C. star Jam Master Jay, ruling there wasn't enough evidence that the man had a motive to kill the hip-hop luminary.
Run-D.M.C.'s Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, poses Oct. 7, 1986, at New York's Madison Square Garden in New York.
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10 famous stars who were killed
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner arrive Dec. 2, 2023, at the State Department in Washington for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner. Rob Reiner gained fame on the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family” before directing hit films including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride.” The couple was found dead Dec. 14, 2025, at their home in Los Angeles. A law enforcement official said investigators believed they suffered stab wounds. Their son, Nick Reiner, was charged with murder in their deaths.
Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate poses in 1968 for a portrait. The actress and model, 26, was one of five people killed by members of the Manson Family cult on Aug. 8, 1969, at the Los Angeles house she shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski. Tate was 8½ months pregnant. Manson and three members of his cult were convicted on Jan. 26, 1971, for the murders of seven people, including Tate.
Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman, seen in October 1992, was a “Saturday Night Live” cast member who helped Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman's wife, Brynn Omdahl, shot and killed Hartman on May 28, 1998, as he slept. He was 49. Omdahl took her own life soon after. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Tupac Shakur
Rapper Tupac Shakur attends an Aug. 15, 1996, voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles. Gunned down in a car in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, the rapper and actor died in a hospital six days later. The trial for the only man charged in the killing, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, is set for early 2026. Davis is an ex-gang leader who was arrested in 2023. Accused of orchestrating the Shakur's killing, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G., who won rap artist and rap single of the year, clutches his awards at the podium Dec. 6, 1995, during the annual Billboard Music Awards in New York. Six months after Shakur's death, rapper was killed in a similar drive-by shooting March 9, 1997, after he left a party in Los Angeles. He was 24. The murder of Shakur's friend-turned-rival, whose legal name was Christopher Wallace, remains unsolved.
Selena
Selena performs July 31, 1994, on stage at Six Flags AstroWorld's Southern Star Amphitheater. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the Tejano music star known as Selena, was shot March 31, 1995, in a motel room in Corpus Christi, Texas. Selena, 23, identified her shooter as Yolanda Saldívar, manager of her clothing boutiques and president of her fan club, whom she'd suspected of embezzling money. Saldívar, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, was denied parole in 2025.
John Lennon
Singer John Lennon appears during a May 13, 1968, news conference at the Hotel Americana in New York. Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old who had worked as a security guard, shot Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, outside the Beatles star's apartment building in New York. Chapman said he considered Lennon a “phony” and was inspired by the main character of J.D. Salinger's novel, “The Catcher in the Rye.” Denied parole since 2000, Chapman remains in prison.
Jam Master Jay
Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, poses Oct. 7, 1986, at New York's Madison Square Garden in New York. The rap musician and DJ for Run-DMC was 37 when he was shot and killed Oct. 30, 2002, in his recording studio in New York. The case stalled for years as investigators pursuing numerous leads struggled to get witnesses to open up. In 2024, jurors convicted Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington of killing the pioneering DJ in a case prosecutors described as revenge for a failed drug deal, but a judge on Dec. 19, 2025, voided Jordan's conviction.
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye, winner of Favorite Soul/R&B Single, "Sexual Healing," attends the American Music Awards on Jan. 17, 1983, in Los Angeles. The R&B and soul musician's father shot Gaye on April 1, 1984, when he intervened in a confrontation between his parents at the family's home in Los Angeles. Marvin Gay Sr. pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was given a six-year suspended prison sentence. He died of pneumonia in a nursing home in 1998.
