Man who became rehabilitation champion is charged with murder

A man who became an outspoken rehabilitation advocate and youth counselor with the Queens public defender’s office after his release from prison last year was charged this week with killing a 44-year-old man in a Bronx apartment building, according to internal police reports. reports and two senior law enforcement officials familiar with the case.

The suspect, Sheldon Johnson, 48, was charged Thursday with murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm. Mr. Johnson, who has spent about 25 years behind bars on 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 Wednesday.

Police received a 911 call about gunshots at an apartment building in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx around 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to police reports and the law enforcement official.

According to an internal police report, at least one neighbor told police they heard two shots from a sixth-floor apartment. A little later the neighbor heard someone shouting: “Please don’t, I have a family!”

Then, the neighbor told police, two more gunshots rang out.

Shortly after hearing the shots, the neighbor saw a man walking in and out of the apartment with cleaning supplies. The neighbor did not recognize the man and told the building superintendent what they had heard and seen. The chief called 911 for a welfare 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 in a plastic storage bin, according to the reports and the official.

According to official and police reports, Mr. Johnson was seen on surveillance footage entering and exiting the building. He was taken into custody for questioning on Tuesday before being arrested.

Later on Wednesday, police obtained a warrant to search Mr. Johnson’s Harlem apartment, 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 his life behind bars. He was convicted of criminal possession of stolen property in Manhattan in 1997 under the alias Thomas Smalls, according to state prison records.

Two years later, Mr. Johnson was convicted in Manhattan of attempted murder, robbery and other charges, according to 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 fundraising page 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 in family court to manslaughter 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 key 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 reconsider the drug trade, guns and gang life. He wanted to put it all behind him.

“My son grew up hearing stories about my so-called fame. I just didn’t want to be that father,” 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 can always do something bad. But let me try. Let me try it.”