Man pleads guilty in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay of rap pioneers Run-DMC

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.

Washington has also challenged his conviction.

Mizell handled the turntables in Run-DMC, a pathbreaking trio he formed with friends Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Joseph Simmons, known as DJ Run and Rev Run.

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