Man pleads guilty in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay of rap pioneers Run-DMC
Apr 27, 2026, 10:42 AM | Updated: 10:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 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, 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 knotty 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.
