New York (AFP) – A third suspect pleaded guilty Monday to his role in the New York City murder of DJ Jam Master Jay, a founding member of legendary hip-hop group Run DMC. Jay Bryant, 52, faces 15 to 20 years in prison for being an accomplice after he “opened a locked fire escape exit door” to a music studio, letting in two men convicted in the musician’s “execution style” murder in 2002, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was 37.
The crime remained unsolved for nearly two decades, until two people close to the “It’s Tricky” star — longtime friend Ronald Washington and his godson Karl Jordan Jr.– were indicted in 2020. Prosecutors said the two men sought revenge after being cut out of a cocaine deal and were convicted based on testimony of two witnesses who came forward after many years. The two men deny the accusations and were convicted in 2024, but Jordan’s conviction was overturned in 2025 after a federal judge ruled the prosecutor had failed to prove the drug-trafficking motive. The US Attorney’s office has appealed that decision.
Bryant, who was identified by DNA testing, did not name his accomplices, media present in the courtroom reported Monday. One of the early innovators of hip hop in the 1980s in the Queens borough of New York City, Run DMC had success with “My Adidas,” “It’s Like That,” and the genre-bending rap-rock collaboration “Walk this Way” with Aerosmith. Jam Master Jay’s death was a blow to the rap world, years after the murder of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 and The Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles in 1997.
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