Jam Master Jay Murder: Accomplice Pleads Guilty to Helping Alleged Killers
Prosecutors say Jay Bryant opened a locked door so that two other men could slip undetected into a Queens recording studio and shoot the famed DJ.
Black News 
A third man has pleaded guilty to acting as an accomplice to the long-unsolved murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay at a Queens, New York recording studio in 2002.
According to federal prosecutors, 52-year-old Jay Bryant copped to the criminal charge on Monday (April 27), three years after he was charged with helping orchestrate the killing of the famed DJ (Jay Mizell). The feds claim Bryant opened the studio’s locked fire escape door so that Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington could enter undetected and allegedly shoot Mizell.
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Prosecutors say Bryant, who has a prior criminal record, faces at least 15 years in prison at his upcoming sentencing due to federal mandatory minimum laws.
“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 Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement Monday. “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’s defense lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
Prosecutors claim Bryant was “integral” to the shocking killing of Mizell at age 37, which allegedly stemmed from a soured cocaine dealing operation between Mizell, his godson Jordan and his childhood friend Washington. The feds say that after Bryant let the other two men into the Queens building, Washington guarded the studio door while Jordan shot Mizell in the head at close range.
Jordan and Washington went to trial in 2024, arguing that they were innocent and that Bryant was the sole perpetrator. Both men were found guilty. But nearly two years later, a judge took the unusual step of overturning Jordan’s conviction after determining that there was no evidence of a motive for the then-18-year-old to kill his godfather.
Prosecutors are now appealing to reinstate Jordan’s conviction, insisting in a filing earlier this month that the verdict was supported by dozens of witnesses who saw or were told about the murder. Washington’s conviction remains intact.
