Photo Credit:(AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File
A third suspect admitted to his role in the murder plot of Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay at a federal court hearing on Monday, 25-years after the hip-hop legend was gunned down in a Queens recording studio. Jay Bryant, 52, acknowledged that he helped the gunmen gain access to the locked studio, knowing they intended to k!ll 37-year-old Jason Mizell, the DJ for the New York rap icons, on Oct. 30, 2002.
“I knew there was going to be a gun used to k!ll Jason Mizell. I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime,” Bryant said in Brooklyn federal court.
“In 2002, in Queens, New York, I agreed with others who were known drug dealers and involved in a drug deal with Jason Mizell, to possess and
distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine,” Bryant said, reading from a prepared statement.
“On October 30th, 2002, in Queens, New York, I helped them k!ll Jason Mizell by helping them gain entry into the recording studio,” he said.
He did not identify the killers.
Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, who presided over the guilty plea hearing, said she would recommend Bryant serve the agreed-upon
15-20-year prison sentence, with three-year credit for time served.
“I find that Mr Bryant acted knowingly and fully understands the charges against him,” Cross-Goldenberg said in court. “I find that there is a
factual basis for guilty.”
Bryant’s admission marked the first time anyone has publicly acknowledged responsibility for organizing the killing of Mizell, who
pioneered Run-DMC’s sounds of the late 1980s and early 90s.
In 2020, Mizell’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr., and childhood friend, Ronald Washington, were charged with killing him in a drug deal gone wrong.
They allegedly broke into Mizell’s recording studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, at around 7:30 p.m. on the night of the murder, according to prosecutors.
Jordan was accused of sho0ting Mizell while Washington blocked the door, according to prosecutors.
Bryant’s DNA was found on a hat left behind at the crime scene, and was subsequently added to the murder indictment in 2023.
He was already in jail at the time on federal drug and gun charges, to which he has since pleaded guilty.
He’ll be sentenced at a later date by US District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, who has been overseeing the case.
“I knew there was going to be a gun used to k!ll Jason Mizell. I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime,” Bryant said in Brooklyn federal court.
“In 2002, in Queens, New York, I agreed with others who were known drug dealers and involved in a drug deal with Jason Mizell, to possess and
distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine,” Bryant said, reading from a prepared statement.
“On October 30th, 2002, in Queens, New York, I helped them k!ll Jason Mizell by helping them gain entry into the recording studio,” he said.
He did not identify the killers.
Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, who presided over the guilty plea hearing, said she would recommend Bryant serve the agreed-upon
15-20-year prison sentence, with three-year credit for time served.
“I find that Mr Bryant acted knowingly and fully understands the charges against him,” Cross-Goldenberg said in court. “I find that there is a
factual basis for guilty.”
Bryant’s admission marked the first time anyone has publicly acknowledged responsibility for organizing the killing of Mizell, who
pioneered Run-DMC’s sounds of the late 1980s and early 90s.
In 2020, Mizell’s godson, Karl Jordan Jr., and childhood friend, Ronald Washington, were charged with killing him in a drug deal gone wrong.
They allegedly broke into Mizell’s recording studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, at around 7:30 p.m. on the night of the murder, according to prosecutors.
Jordan was accused of sho0ting Mizell while Washington blocked the door, according to prosecutors.
Bryant’s DNA was found on a hat left behind at the crime scene, and was subsequently added to the murder indictment in 2023.
He was already in jail at the time on federal drug and gun charges, to which he has since pleaded guilty.
He’ll be sentenced at a later date by US District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, who has been overseeing the case.
