More than 20 years after Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death in a New York recording studio, a man admitted to his role in the killing.
Jay Bryant, 52, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg that he helped others gain access to the building where the hip-hop icon, born Jason Mizell, was shot in 2002.
“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant told the judge, per the Associated Press. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”
Bryant didn’t name the people he helped, but in 2024, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were convicted of Mizell’s murder in a case that prosecutors had been working for decades.
“Y’all just killed two innocent people,” Washington yelled at the jury at the time of the verdict.
Jordan Jr., Mizell’s godson, won an appeal last year to overturn his conviction, with a judge finding that the prosecutors’ case against him didn’t add up. The judge said the evidence didn’t support the contention that he was motivated by anger after he was cut out of a $200,000 drug deal. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy approved Jordan Jr.’s $1-million bond package.
Washington has challenged his conviction as well.
According to Courthouse News, prosecutors claimed that Washington and Jordan both confessed to the murder, based on witness testimony that both men discussed being involved in Mizell’s shooting while they were in prison.
As for Bryant’s role in the murder, his uncle Raymond Bryant testified in 2024 that his nephew confessed to killing Mizell, saying he “did it.”
Additionally, a hat with Bryant’s DNA that law enforcement officers found in the recording studio placed Bryant at the scene of the crime.
Bryant told the court Monday that he was in cahoots with people who were wrapped up in a drug deal with the DJ and that he played a part in the killing by helping them gain entry to the recording studio. According to the Associated Press, Bryant flashed a thumbs up to a person in the courtroom before leaving.
Bryant faces 15 to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder, as well as separate narcotics trafficking and firearms charges to which he already pleaded guilty.
“More than two decades after the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of Mr. Mizell, an exhaustive investigation revealed Bryant’s role and today he finally admitted his guilt,” stated U.S. Atty. Joseph Nocella in a news release.
“Justice in the murder of Jam Master Jay has been pursued with determination and resolve for more than two decades. The defendant’s role in facilitating access for the killers was integral to this crime,” added Bryan DiGirolamo, special agent in charge for ATF New York field division.
Although Mizell’s public persona as the “master of the disco scratch” promoted the wholesome side of hip-hop and encouraged a drug-free lifestyle, officials said he turned to dealing after the group’s heyday had come and gone. According to prosecutors, Mizell became involved in arranging the sale of kilogram-size quantities of cocaine.
In August 2002, Mizell was fronted 10 kilos of cocaine from a supplier. Prosecutors alleged that Jordan Jr. and Washington planned to deal the drugs in Maryland, but a dispute led to the men being cut out of the $200,000 deal.
On Oct. 30, 2002, Mizell was playing video games with a friend inside his Queens, N.Y., recording studio, 24/7. According to prosecutors, around 7:30 p.m., Bryant entered the building containing the recording studio and opened a locked fire escape exit door to allow others to slip in without being seen by Mizell.
Two shots were fired and Mizell was hit once in the head, killing him. The second shot struck another individual in the leg.
