Man pleads guilty in the 2002 killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay

Nearly 25 years after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was killed, a man admitted in court on Monday to a role in the shooting 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 knotty case.

Bryant did not name the other people with whom he acted. But a jury in 2024 convicted two other men, Karl Jordan Jnr and Ronald Washington, yet a judge subsequently cleared Jordan.

Washington has also challenged his conviction. His lawyer, Susan Kellman, noted on 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.