A 52-year-old man has pleaded guilty for his role in orchestrating the murder of Jam Master Jay. Jay Bryant was convicted in 2024 for opening a locked door that allowed his co-conspirators to easily ambush and murder the Run-D.M.C. DJ born Jason Mizell.
“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant said in a New York court on Monday. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.” In 2023, prosecutors charged Bryant for conspiring in the killing after his DNA was found near the scene of the crime. Bryant faces 15 to 20 years in prison.
“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,” said United States Attorney Joseph Nocella. “The prosecutors in our Office and our law enforcement partners never give up, no matter how long it takes, in the pursuit of justice for the victim and the victim’s family.”
Pitchfork has reached out to Bryant’s attorney for comment.
In October 2002, Mizell was shot in the head in his Queens studio. He was 37 years old. Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan, Jr. were eventually arrested in 2020 and charged with murder while engaged in drug trafficking. Prosecutors claimed the killing was in retaliation for Mizell excluding the men from a lucrative cocaine deal. Jordan Jr. and Washington were later found guilty but in 2025, a federal judge overturned the conviction of Jordan Jr., claiming that the case was “impermissibly speculative.”
Mizell founded Run-D.M.C. in 1983 with Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels.
