On Tuesday (May 30), federal prosecutors in New York indicted a third man in the killing of Run-DMC’s DJ Jam Master Jay. Jay Bryant, 49, is already in custody due to separate and what are said to be unrelated drug charges. He is now accused of the DJ’s murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking.
In an email to The New York Times, Bryant’s attorney, Cesar de Castro, said that his client would be pleading not guilty. “Securing an indictment in a secret grand jury, applying an extremely low burden of proof, is one thing,” the message read. “Proving it at trial is another matter.”
As previously reported by REVOLT, two others, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan, were charged with Jam Master Jay’s murder in 2020. Seth DuCharme, who was the acting attorney for eastern New York at that time, stated Washington and Jordan fatally shot the hip hop legend in his recording studio in 2002 over a “drug-related” conflict. “They walked in and murdered him in cold blood,” DuCharme claimed.
Now, the prosecution believes that Bryant was also present at that studio, as clothing with his DNA was reportedly found at the scene. The indictment continued by stating that Bryant later admitted to participating in the crime and, at one point, told an unknown person that he was the shooter.
Shortly after the initial charges were announced years ago, the family of the fallen talent — whose real name was Jason Mizell — shared an official statement expressing “mixed emotions” over the news. “We truly hope that these indictments are a solid step towards justice being served in the murder of Jay,” the family wrote on social media. “We realize that there are other families out there who have lingering pain who continue to wait for their own closure, and we pray that this case gives them hope.”