A man has pleaded guilty to assisting the murder of Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay more than two decades ago.
Jam Master Jay, real name Jay Mizell, was a pioneering rap star who formed the group alongside Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel, and helped define the ‘80s with hits like the Aerosmith collaboration ‘Walk This Way’.
He was shot in the head at a recording studio in Queens back in 2002, and for two decades the case went unsolved until federal prosecutors filed charges against three men.
Jay Bryant, now aged 52, was indicted in 2023 and prosecutors claimed that his DNA was found on a hat inside the studio where Mizell was fatally shot. He pleaded not guilty at the time.
The following year, Mizell’s godson Karl Jordan Jr and childhood friend Ronald Washington were convicted in the case and accused of having planned an “execution” killing after allegedly being cut out of a £200,000 drug deal.
Prosecutors alleged that the killing was “motivated by greed and by revenge” (as per BBC News), but both Washington and Jordan denied any involvement. In 2025, Jordan’s conviction was overturned when lawyers failed to prove a motive. Washington continues to challenge his conviction.
Now, Bryant changed his plea yesterday (Monday April 27) from “not guilty” to “guilty”, and told the judge that he helped to get others into a building to ambush and kill Jam Master Jay.
It comes after he had already been accused of acting as an accomplice to Washington and Jordan – allegedly helping them to quietly get into the building where Mizell’s recording studio was located.
When he was first charged, Bryant denied the charges, and prosecutors claimed he opened a back fire door to allow entry to Washington and Jordan entry to the building without having to buzz an intercom.
In court yesterday (April 27), he changed his plea and said that he knew that a gun would be used to shoot the Run DMC rapper. He apologised for his involvement, but did not name the others who were involved in Mizell’s killing.
He faces 15 to 20 years in prison over the killing and unrelated drug and gun charges, according to CBS News, and court documents indicated last week that Bryant was planning on changing his plea so that he could negotiate a deal with federal prosecutors.
The murder trial began early in 2024, and an eyewitness who was at the scene of the shooting also appeared in court during the trial – identifying a suspect and recalling the Run-DMC star’s last moments.
The 2024 trial saw Jordan and Washington’s defence lawyer notably invoke Harry Potter in the closing statements, and earlier on in proceedings, a judge ruled that lyrics written by the accused couldn’t be used as evidence.