One of the three men charged in the killing of Jam Master Jay plans to plead guilty, court records show, in what would be the first admission anyone has made in court to any role in the Run-DMC star’s 2002 death.
Jay Bryant pleaded not guilty to murder after his 2023 indictment, but his lawyer and federal prosecutors told the court in recent letters that they were negotiating a plea agreement.
A court docket entry Thursday indicated that Bryant intends to change his plea, without saying anything about the charge or conduct to which he might admit or the punishment he might expect. No date was set for a change of plea, and prosecutors declined to comment; a message was sent to Bryant’s attorney.
The notice isn’t an irreversible commitment, and defendants can change their minds about pleading guilty even as they’re sitting in court.
If Bryant goes through with the plea, it could bring a measure of both closure and complexity to the already convoluted case. Co-defendants Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were convicted by a jury, but Jordan was later cleared by a judge — and Bryant has been something of an outlier.
He was indicted nearly three years after the others, when authorities said Bryant’s DNA was found on a hat in the music studio where Jam Master Jay was gunned down. Born Jason Mizell, he was the DJ in Run-DMC, crafting beats and scratches that helped propel rap into music’s mainstream in the 1980s. The trio’s hits included “It’s Tricky” and a take on Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
By the time the DNA was allegedly matched to Bryant, prosecutors had long since articulated a theory that Jordan and Washington — both of whom were close to Mizell — went after him out of anger over a failed drug deal. According to prosecutors and trial witnesses, Jordan shot the DJ while Washington blocked the door during the shooting and ordered one of Mizell’s to get on the ground. Both men denied the allegations.
Jordan was Mizell’s grandson, and Washington was one of the DJ’s childhood friends. Bryant, by contrast, had little if any connection to the rap star. He knew someone in common with Jordan and Washington, according to testimony at their trial, but it was unclear whether Bryant had ever met Mizell.
After the alleged DNA match, prosecutors contended that Bryant had slipped into the studio building and opened a back fire door so that Washington and Jordan could avoid buzzing up and could ambush the DJ.
Meanwhile, Bryant’s uncle claimed that his nephew told him he shot Mizell after the artist reached for a gun. No other witnesses even placed Bryant in the studio, however, and prosecutors differed with the uncle’s account, even though he was their witness . Instead, they suggested that Bryant touched the hat and then Jordan or Washington carried it into the studio and dropped it.
Neither Washington’s nor Jordan’s DNA was found on the hat, according to court papers.
One of Jordan’s lawyers, Michael Hueston, argued that the charges against Bryant raised reasonable doubt about the case against Jordan. Jordan’s conviction ultimately was overturned for unrelated reasons.
Bryant, now 52, was jailed on federal drug and gun charges when he was indicted in Mizell’s death. He has since pleaded guilty in the drug and firearm case and is awaiting sentencing.