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NEW YORK (WPIX) — A third man has been arrested for the 2002 murder of Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
A superseding indictment was filed against 48-year-old Jay Bryant of Queens, who was being held on federal drug charges in an unrelated case, officials said.
The hip-hop star, whose real name is Jason Mizell, was shot in the head and killed in his recording studio in Queens on Oct. 30, 2002. He was 37. Mizell’s friend, Tony Rincon, was hit by one bullet in the leg and the next bullet hit Jay in the head, killing him.
Mizell’s fellow group members, Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, were not in the second-floor studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica when the gunfire broke out.
When authorities indicted two other men, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, in August 2020, they said Mizell’s death involved a drug deal gone bad.
In a letter filed with the court on Tuesday, prosecutors said Bryant and the two other men entered the building that evening, and then fled after the shooting. They said Bryant was seen going into the building, and his DNA was recovered at the scene.
For years, Jay’s death lingered as a cold case, with witnesses reluctant to speak up despite reward money being offered.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
