Man pleads guilty to role in 2002 murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay

Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell. Photograph: G Paul Burnett/APView image in fullscreenJay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell. Photograph: G Paul Burnett/APUS newsMan pleads guilty to role in 2002 murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master JayJay Bryant’s admission came more than two decades after the rapper’s killing, but he didn’t name others involved Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Associated PressMon 27 Apr 2026 18.51 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleNearly a quarter century after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death, a man admitted in court Monday to a role in a killing that stymied investigators for decades.Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell.“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant told a federal magistrate. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”Bryant’s admission brings some closure – but also adds complexity – to a twisty case.Bryant didn’t name the other people with whom he acted. But a jury in 2024 convicted two other men, Karl Jordan Jr and Ronald Washington, yet a judge subsequently cleared Jordan.Washington has also challenged his conviction. His lawyer, Susan Kellman, noted Monday that evidence against Bryant included his DNA on a hat at the crime scene and witness testimony that Bryant once claimed he fired the gun himself. Jordan’s lawyers declined to comment.Bryant, 52, is expected to face a sentence somewhere between 15 and 20 years in prison for killing, plus unrelated drug and gun charges to which he pleaded guilty earlier. No sentencing date has been set.He gave a thumbs up to someone in the audience before leaving court. The person declined to comment afterward, as did Bryant’s attorneys.Prosecutors had no immediate comment.Mizell handled the turntables in Run-DMC, a path-breaking trio he formed with friends Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Joseph Simmons, known as DJ Run and Rev Run.With such 1980s hits as It’s Tricky, My Adidas and a version of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way, they helped rap climb the ladder from an urban genre into mainstream popularity. Run-DMC was the first rap group with gold- and platinum-selling albums, a Rolling Stone cover and a video on MTV. The trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Mizell also mentored other hip-hop artists, including a young 50 Cent.At 37, Mizell was gunned down in his studio in the neighborhood of Queens, New York, where he’d grown up. His October 2002 death followed the late 1990s killings of two other hip-hop greats, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG. Authorities struggled with all three cases for years.Jordan and Washington – Mizell’s godson and old friend, respectively – were arrested in 2020. Prosecutors said the men were bitter about losing out on a piece of a failed cocaine deal that Mizell had tried to line up. Though Run-DMC was known for its anti-drug message, prosecutors and a trial witness said the DJ moonlighted in the cocaine trade in his later years to cover his bills and keep being generous to friends after music money dried up somewhat.According to prosecutors and trial…

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