Criminal justice activist arrested for murder after head found in freezer one month after telling Joe Rogan Experience he’d turned his life around

Sheldon Johnson, 48, was taken into custody on Thursday after body parts belonging to the victim, 44-year-old Collin Small, were discovered stashed in an apartment Johnson had been spotted entering and exiting in numerous disguises.

According to the New York Post, neighbors told police that the incident took place shortly before 8pm on Tuesday at the apartment at Odgen Avenue and West 162nd Street in the Bronx.

They said Small was heard telling Johnson, "Please don't, I have a family!" before two shots rang out.

The superintendent called law enforcement, explaining that a man who was not the tenant was going in and out of the apartment with cleaning supplies. Surveillance footage showed Johnson wearing multiple disguises, including a blonde wig.

When officers arrived, they scoured the apartment, but left after failing to find anything. They came back a short time later, however, and questioned Johnson. It was then that they came across Small's head in the freezer and his torso stuffed into a blue bin.

He was subsequently charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession, and is being held without bail.

Johnson was released from prison in 2019 after spending 20 years behind bars for armed robberies he committed while part of the Bloods gang. After being set free, he got to work as a staffer for the Queens Defenders law firm, advocating for criminal justice reform.

During his time there, he became acquainted with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose soft-on-crime policies have been applauded by such groups but slammed by many residents of the city.

On February 1, he told Joe Rogan Experience host Josh Dubin that he was a changed man, but noted that, "I've been doing bad for so long, I'm going to try to do something good. If all else fails, I can go back to doing something bad."