{"id":63373,"date":"2026-04-27T18:41:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/jam-master-jay-murder-case-jay-bryant-pleads-guilty\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:41:29","slug":"jam-master-jay-murder-case-jay-bryant-pleads-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/jam-master-jay-murder-case-jay-bryant-pleads-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Jam Master Jay Murder Case: Jay Bryant Pleads Guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA man who was indicted for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/run-dmc-jam-master-jay-family-reflects-killers-justice-1235006379\/\">2002 murder of Run-DMC\u2019s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/jam-master-jay\/\">Jam Master Jay<\/a> has pleaded guilty for his role in the shooting of the hip-hop pioneer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJay Bryant, 52, changed his plea on a federal murder charge Monday, April 27, in Brooklyn Federal Court, <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jam-master-jay-run-dmc-killing-plea-09bd9fbd0328ae5e32e032d6268a350a\">The Associated Press<\/a> <\/em>reports. When sentenced, he faces a minimum term of 15 years in prison and up to 20 years in prison. Bryant was originally indicted in May 2023, and had pleaded not guilty. His trial was set to start May 4, but a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/jam-master-jay-defendant-guilty-plea-report-1235549045\/\">report earlier this month<\/a> indicated that Bryant was considering changing his plea to guilty. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBryant was the third man charged in Jam Master Jay\u2019s death. The DJ, born Jason William Mizell, was shot over a failed drug deal at his recording studio in Queens in October 2002. He was 37.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cI knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,\u201d Bryant told a judge<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jam-master-jay-run-dmc-killing-plea-09bd9fbd0328ae5e32e032d6268a350a\" target=\"_blank\">.<\/a> \u201cI knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn 2024, a jury found Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. \u2014\u00a0Mizell\u2019s godson \u2014\u00a0guilty in the murder. But last year a judge voided Jordan\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jam-master-jay-run-dmc-murder-trial-4b49f009dc6ac9dc78d99a9dba79fc91\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">conviction<\/a> after finding prosecutors were unable to prove a clear motive for Jordan. Washington has challenged his conviction, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAs for Bryant, he confessed that he had slipped into the building and opened up a back door so that the suspects could catch Mizell off-guard.\u00a0However, he did not name the other people allegedly involved in the shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cMore than two decades after the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of Mr. Mizell, an exhaustive investigation revealed Bryant\u2019s role and today he finally admitted his guilt,\u201d United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a press release. \u201cThe 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\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAn attorney for Bryant declined to comment.<em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBryant\u2019s role in Mizell\u2019s death was discovered after his DNA was found on a hat left behind at the recording studio. His role in the shooting was mentioned during Washington and Jordan\u2019s trial, with a woman named Tana Davis placing Bryant at the crime scene. She said she observed a man matching his description walk through the building and later heard gun shots coming from the studio.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe extent of Bryant\u2019s actual role in Mizell\u2019s murder has been unclear. Prosecutors had argued that Washington had blocked the studio\u2019s door and claimed that Jordan had been the shooter while Bryant had granted the men entry to the building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHowever, Bryant\u2019s uncle, Raymond Bryant, testified during the other men\u2019s criminal trial that his nephew had confessed to the shooting. \u201cHe said he did it,\u201d Raymond said. And defense lawyers for both Washington and Jordan claimed that Bryant was the alleged shooter.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJam Master Jay was a founding member of the influential group, Run-DMC, alongside Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels. With hit songs like \u201cIt\u2019s Tricky,\u201d \u201cWalk this Way,\u201d and \u201cMy Adidas,\u201d the trio cemented the early sound and look of hip-hop and rap in the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThe center of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/run-d-m-c\/\" id=\"auto-tag_run-d-m-c\" data-tag=\"run-d-m-c\">Run-D.M.C.<\/a> was Jam Master Jay,\u201d Public Enemy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/chuck-d\/\">Chuck D<\/a> told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/run-dmc-jam-master-jay-family-reflects-killers-justice-1235006379\/\"><em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> in 2024. \u201cHe held it all together: the look, the attitude, the street wisdom, the credibility, the direction. And then he was a DJ. As a DJ, Jay was a precisionist. He made no mistakes. He was the best show DJ ever because he pretty much orchestrated it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/jam-master-jay-murder-case-jay-bryant-pleads-guilty-1235553615\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man who was indicted for the 2002 murder of Run-DMC\u2019s Jam Master Jay has pleaded guilty for his role in the shooting of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":63374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}