Feds: Third man facing charges in killing of Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay
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Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., depicted above in a mural in Queens, was fatally shot in 2002. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
A third man faces charges in the 2002 shooting death of hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., the group’s DJ who was slain in a Queens recording studio because he excluded his alleged killers from a drug dealing operation in which he was involved, according to a superseding indictment filed Tuesday.
The latest defendant, Jay Bryant, of Jamaica, Queens, is already jailed pending trial in an unrelated criminal case charging him with distributing cocaine, crack cocaine and firearms in a drug trafficking crime, according to a letter dated Tuesday to a federal judge asking to keep Bryant jailed.
Run-D.M.C. is considered among the most influential acts in hip-hop history, particularly in the 1980s. The slaying of Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, sent a shock through the hip-hop community and was long an unsolved mystery.
An arraignment on the murder charge is pending, according to John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District, which is prosecuting the case. Cesar DeCastro, Bryant’s lawyer, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
Bryant, 49, is being charged more than two decades after the death of Jam Master Jay. The first two defendants in the case, alleged triggerman Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, both from nearby Hollis, were charged in 2020.
The letter says that Mizell, 37, was at his studio the day of the killing, Oct. 30, 2002, on Merrick Boulevard.
“Washington pointed his firearm at one of the individuals located inside the studio and demanded that the person lay on the floor. Jordan approached Mizell, pointed his firearm at him, and fired two shots at close range,” the letter says. “One of those shots hit Mizell in the head, killing him. The second shot struck another individual in the leg. All three defendants fled the crime scene.”
The letter added: “Bryant was observed entering the building immediately before the shooting and an article of clothing left at the crime scene contained Bryant’s DNA. He later admitted participating in the murder, claiming to one associate that he was in fact the shooter.”
That claim is unsupported by evidence, according to a footnote in the letter.
Bryant’s specific role in the crime wasn’t disclosed.
According to published reports, Mizell had gotten 10 kilograms of cocaine from a supplier in the Midwest to distribute in Maryland by Washington, Jordan and others. But after a dispute, Mizell fired Washington and Jordan as distributors. It’s not disclosed what role if any Bryant played in that dispute.
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