A man who became an outspoken advocate for rehabilitation and a youth counselor at the Queens public defenders’ office after his release from prison last year was charged with killing a 44-year-old man inside a Bronx apartment building this week, according to internal police reports and two high-ranking law enforcement officials familiar with the case.
The suspect, Sheldon Johnson, 48, was charged on Thursday with murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm. Mr. Johnson, who served about 25 years behind bars for attempted murder and other charges, appeared last month on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, where he discussed his incarceration and his work with at-risk youth.
The Queens Defenders declined to comment on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the police received a 911 call around 1 a.m. regarding gunshots inside an apartment building in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, according to the police reports and the law enforcement official.
At least one neighbor told the police they heard two shots from inside a sixth-floor apartment, according to an internal police report. Moments later, the neighbor heard a person shout, “Please don’t, I have a family!”
Then, the neighbor told the police, two more gunshots rang out.
Shortly after hearing the shots, the neighbor saw a man carrying cleaning supplies walk in and out of the apartment. The neighbor did not recognize the man, and told the building superintendent what they had heard and seen. The superintendent called 911 for a wellness check.
When officers arrived at the apartment on Summit Avenue, near the corner of West 162nd Street, they found a man’s torso and a foot inside a plastic storage bin, according to the reports and the official.
Mr. Johnson was seen on surveillance video entering and exiting the building, according to the official and police reports. He was taken into police custody on Tuesday for questioning before his arrest.
Later on Wednesday, the police obtained a warrant to search Mr. Johnson’s apartment in Harlem, according to the law enforcement official. There they discovered the victim’s legs, arms and head in a freezer. The victim had been shot at least once in the head.
Mr. Johnson has spent about half of his life behind bars. In 1997, under the alias Thomas Smalls, he was convicted of criminal possession of stolen property in Manhattan, according to state prison records.
Two years later, Mr. Johnson was convicted of attempted murder, robbery and other charges in Manhattan, according to the records. He served the maximum sentence of about 25 years, and was released last May.
His attempted murder case and long incarceration had prompted public efforts to convince the state to grant him clemency. A fund-raising page on the website newyorkersforclemency.com described him as a “community leader and mentor” as well as a “creative writer and thespian.”
In his own writings and in other media reports, Mr. Johnson described his incarceration as part of a family legacy of crime and punishment. Mr. Johnson’s father also served time in prison, and his son, also named Sheldon Johnson, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in family court in connection with a fatal attack on a Columbia graduate student in 2008, when the younger Mr. Johnson was 12.
On Mr. Rogan’s podcast, Mr. Johnson described himself as a big shot member of the Bloods who was at “the top of the food chain.” He continued in his leadership role even while behind bars.
In 2005, Mr. Johnson said, he began to rethink the drug dealing, the guns and the gang life. He wanted to leave it all behind.
“My son was growing up hearing stories about my so-called notoriety. I just didn’t want to be that dad,” Mr. Johnson said.
“I said to myself, ‘I’ve been doing bad for so long, I’m going to try to do something good,’” he added. “If all else fails, I could always go back to doing something bad. But let me try. Let me give it a shot.”
