Man Who Became Champion of Rehabilitation Is Charged With Murder - The New York Times

Sheldon Johnson became a youth worker with the Queens Defenders after his release from prison last year.

Since his release from prison last May, Sheldon Johnson had become a public face of rehabilitation and even redemption.

Mr. Johnson, 48, spoke to people about how he had been a big shot in the Bloods, had been convicted of attempted murder and had spent a quarter-century behind bars.

He was a counselor for at-risk youth at the Queens public defenders’ office, and appeared last month on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, where he discussed his incarceration and his work.

But Mr. Johnson’s success story came to an abrupt halt this week when he was accused of murder.

Mr. Johnson, of Harlem, was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon on Thursday in the killing of Collin Small, 44, inside the victim’s Bronx apartment, according to police officials. It was unclear on Thursday how Mr. Johnson knew Mr. Small.

The Queens Defenders declined to comment on Thursday.

Early Tuesday morning, the police received a 911 call regarding gunshots inside an apartment building in the High Bridge neighborhood of the Bronx, according to internal police reports and two high-ranking law enforcement officials familiar with the case.

At least one neighbor told the police she heard two shots from inside a sixth-floor apartment, according to an internal police report. Moments later, she heard a person shout, “Please don’t, I have a family!”

Then, she told the police, two more gunshots rang out, followed by silence.

Shortly after hearing the shots, the neighbor saw a man carrying bags and cleaning supplies walk in and out of the apartment, according to the police reports. The neighbor did not recognize the man, and told the building superintendent, Orlando Medina, what she had heard and seen.

Minutes before calling the police, Mr. Medina thought to check the security camera footage.

“I thought, Let me see what I see,” Mr. Medina said in a phone interview.

When he looked at the footage, Mr. Medina saw a man walking in and out of the apartment. He noticed that the man had changed clothes several times: At one point, he was wearing a dark jacket, khaki pants and a plaid golf cap, and carting a plastic blue storage bin on wheels. At another point, he was wearing a light jacket and a fisherman’s hat, holding two bags. On a third occasion, he wore a dark puffy coat, sunglasses and a blonde wig.

“I thought, I don’t know who this man is, but he is coming in and out with a key, like he owns the place,” he said.

Mr. Medina said he also saw the victim, Mr. Small, walk into the apartment around 10 p.m., but he never saw him leave. Mr. Medina called 911 for a wellness check.

“I said to myself, ‘I don't think this is something good. I think this is bad, and I think the tenant is in danger,’” Mr. Medina said. “‘I think he is dead.’”

When patrol officers arrived at the apartment on Summit Avenue, near the corner of West 162nd Street, they knocked on Mr. Small’s door and Mr. Johnson opened it.

Police detectives later confirmed that the man captured on camera coming in and out of the apartment was Mr. Johnson, the reports said. They took Mr. Johnson into custody soon afterward.

Once the detectives obtained a warrant to search the apartment, they discovered the victim’s torso and feet inside the bin, the reports said. They also found his legs, arms and head in the freezer. Mr. Small had been shot at least once in the head.

Roughly 17 hours later, Mr. Johnson was charged with murder.

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.

Still, the serious accusations against Mr. Johnson are not the norm for people leaving prison, said the Rev. Peter Cook, the executive director of the New York State Council of Churches, a faith-based group that supports prison policy reform.

“I grieve for the family mourning this tragic loss,” Mr. Cook said, adding: “It’s important that we not lose sight of the fact that countless formerly incarcerated people have safely returned home and dedicated their remaining years to giving back to their community and promoting healing and safety.”

On Mr. Rogan’s podcast, Mr. Johnson described himself as a 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.”

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Hailed as Face Of Clemency, Man Charged With Murder

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