The still-at-large gunman who killed legendary Run DMC deejay Jam Master Jay has a tattoo on his neck, according to a witness account made public for the first time.
Randy Allen, the iconic turntablist's longtime business partner, told the Daily News the inked-up killer embraced the hip-hop pioneer before pulling out a gun and putting a bullet in his head.
"Jay looked up at the guy to say what's up," Allen, 41, said. "And the next thing you know, a shot goes off."
The cold-blooded murder of Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, five years ago left the hip-hop world in shock.
Weeks without an arrest turned into years as the killing got lumped together with the unsolved slayings of rap icons Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
It remains one of the city's most notable unsolved murders.
Speaking in his first extensive interview since the Oct. 30, 2002, murder, Allen gave The News the most detailed account ever provided of the night his best friend was gunned down.
Mizell had come to his Hollis recording studio to help prepare the group he was backing, Rusty Waters, for an upcoming tour, Allen said.
The 37-year-old star was taking a break and playing video games with his friend, Tony Rincon, when two gunmen, including a man known to Mizell, burst into the second-floor studio.
Allen's sister, Lydia High, who worked for Mizell, was near the studio's entrance and one of the gunmen ordered her to the floor.
From the couch, Mizell could not see what was going on, Allen said.
High told her brother she then saw a man with a tattoo on his neck stroll toward Mizell. She could not identify what the tattoo was, Allen said.
The two slapped hands moments before the tattooed man fired at Mizell. He missed, hitting Rincon in the leg, but the second shot tore through the back of Mizell's head.
Allen heard the gunfire from the studio's control room, where he had been listening to the recordings of a female vocalist with her and a friend known as MikeB.
He rushed out of the room to find Mizell's body on the floor in a pool of blood - and no sign of the gunmen.
"My buddy's lying there, bleeding from his head," Allen told The News. "I'm looking at Jay and my head is gone. All I know is he's not moving. And all I could think about was who the f--- had just left."
High told authorities the man who put the gun to her head was Ronald (Tinard) Washington, a convicted drug dealer with a fierce reputation who was well-known by Mizell and his friends, Allen said.
Washington, who was later busted on burglary charges, was identified by federal prosecutors in April as one of the gunmen involved in Mizell's murder. He has not been charged.
Allen, who was at one time accused of ordering the deejay's death to collect on an insurance policy, said he has fully cooperated with investigators.
He said he was infuriated by Rincon's refusal to identify Mizell's killer, who he believes is from the same Hollis neighborhood where he and his slain pal grew up.
"This is not a Biggie Smalls or Tupac case. This is a case that can be solved," Allen said. "The person they have locked up who was involved with it is a person from the neighborhood. It's not like we're talking about somebody who flew in from L.A. We're talking about people right from the neighborhood."
Can some one solve a murder involving a hip hop artist just once? Is that too much to ask?
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