Man admits role in 2002 killing of Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay

Nearly 25 years after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death, a man has admitted in court to a role in a killing that has frustrated investigators for decades.

Jay Bryant, 52, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a building so they could ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell, in his recording studio.

“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 complicated case.

Bryant did not 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 Mr Jordan.

Washington has also challenged his conviction. Messages seeking comment were sent to his lawyers and Mr Jordan’s attorneys.

Bryant is expected to face a sentence somewhere between 15 and 20 years in prison, a penalty that covers the 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 pathbreaking 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 & 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 Queens neighbourhood where he had 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.