One of three men charged in Jam Master Jay shooting pleads guilty to murder

BROOKLYN (CN) — One of three men charged in the fatal 2002 shooting of Run-DMC’s Jason Mizell, otherwise known as Jam Master Jay, pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, bringing some semblance of closure to the more than two-decade-old killing that rocked the hip-hop world.

Jay Bryant, 52, entered a plea of guilty on one count of firearm-related murder. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but under Bryant’s agreement with the government, he will face only 15 to 20 years behind bars.

Bryant admitted to playing an integral role in Mizell’s infamous shooting at a Jamaica, Queens, recording studio. Prosecutors had long said he was the one to let two other men sneak into the building through a back fire entrance to kill the DJ.

“On Oct. 30, 2002, I helped them kill Jason Mizell by helping gain entry to the recording studio,” Bryant said Monday, reciting a written statement to the court. “I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell. I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”

Bryant also admitted to being involved in a drug deal with Mizell involving five kilos of cocaine, confirming a theory prosecutors used to bolster the murder charges.

Dressed in green prison garb, Bryant stoically answered questions from U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg with “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.” He flashed a thumbs-up to a man in the gallery at the end of the hearing.

His lawyer, Cesar DeCastro, declined to comment when leaving the courtroom Monday.

“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,” Joseph Nocella, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “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.”

Bryant pleaded not guilty to Mizell’s killing when he was initially indicted in 2023. He was charged nearly three years after the two other men, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, after investigators say they found Bryant’s DNA on a hat in the recording studio.

Jordan and Washington were each convicted of Mizell’s killing in 2024, following a five-week trial in which prosecutors argued the pair orchestrated the shooting after getting cut out of a $200,000 drug deal. Prosecutors said Jordan, Mizell’s godson, was the one who fired the fatal bullet. Washington, a close friend of Mizell, stood by the door and held Mizell’s manager at gunpoint.

But a federal judge reversed Jordan’s conviction earlier this year after finding his conviction was predicated on accusations of drug trafficking that the government failed to prove. U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, a Barack Obama appointee in the Eastern District of New York, approved a $1 million bond package for Jordan, but his release is on hold while the government appeals.

Washington’s conviction stands. He remains in federal lockup.

Bryant was the only of the three never to be tried for the killing. Defense attorneys for Jordan and Washington repeatedly argued that it was actually Bryant, not their clients, who was responsible. They pointed to trial testimony from Bryant’s uncle, Raymond Bryant, who said his nephew admitted to shooting Mizell after he reached for his gun.

“Who is Jay Bryant? Jay Bryant is literally reasonable doubt in this case,” Jordan’s attorney Michael Hueston said during the trial’s closing.

When he was indicted for Mizell’s killing three years ago, Bryant was already in federal jail on unrelated drug and firearm charges. The 15- to 20-year sentence he’ll face following Monday’s plea will cover those four counts as well.

Hall, who oversaw the trial of Jordan and Washington, will sentence Bryant. No date has been set.

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