Police probe shootings of JMJ and nephew.

[mrtonguetwista]

NEW YORK (AP) - Police are investigating a possible connection between the fatal shooting of rap legend Jam Master Jay and the wounding of his nephew eight months later, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday.

The connection remains unclear, Kelly said, because of doubts about the credibility of the man who told police both shootings were the work of the same person.

Karl Jordan, 20, was arrested this month in the May shooting of Rodney Jones, a rapper known as Boe Skagz, authorities said.

Jones told police that Jordan shot at him five times May 14, hitting him once in the leg. Two shell casings were recovered. Jordan has been charged with attempted murder, weapons possession and assault, prosecutors said.

Jones is the nephew of Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell. Mizell was killed Oct. 30 by a masked gunman in his recording studio.

Ronald Tinard Washington, a convicted robber whom police also consider a suspect in the shooting, has told investigators he saw Jordan enter the studio moments before the sound of gunfire erupted inside, Washington's attorney said Wednesday. The investigators haven't expressed further interest in his story, attorney Dana Grossblatt said.

Jordan's attorney said Wednesday that his client did not shoot Mizell or his nephew.

``My client's not guilty of what's he's been charged with and he hasn't been charged with anything other than this one incident,'' attorney Harold Ehrentreu said.

Kelly confirmed that Jordan's name figures in the Jam Master Jay investigation, but downplayed its importance.

``He's been mentioned. It's a question of who's mentioned it,'' Kelly said. ``Whether or not he's a viable suspect is not something that we're going to say at this time ... It always, in these types of situations, depends on what the individual whose putting forth the name, what stake that person has in all of it.''

Grossblatt described Washington as motivated simply by the desire to ease the pain of Mizell's family by helping police solve the killing.

``They've repeatedly said that my client is a suspect,'' she said. ``Why would an alleged murderer come forward to the police and speak to them so candidly for three hours?''

Investigators have explored several theories about the death of Mizell, a renowned founding member of Run-DMC.

There has been speculation he may have been involved in a dispute over money, or that he was caught in the crossfire of a rivalry between rap figures involved with criminals.

[Lincoln]

i still cant believe that JMJ is gone.......one of the 3 people i've ever cried about dying

[CRAFTY]

He was truly a pioneer in the hip-hop scene...