A New York City convicted felon turned criminal justice activist was charged with murder after New York City police found body parts in the victim’s apartment in the Bronx, the New York Post reported.
Sheldon Johnson, 48, allegedly murdered Collin Small, 44, in Small’s apartment Tuesday evening, according to the report. Johnson reportedly was seen on surveillance video footage glancing furtively around before entering the apartment in a dark coat over a yellow hoodie and bearing a mop and a bag of cleaning agents.
Neighbors told the New York Post that just before hearing two shots fired, they heard Small screaming, “Please don’t! I have a family!” Johnson was also reportedly seen leaving in Small’s car and returning in an Uber while sporting a blond wig.
Johnson also reportedly entered the apartment with a blue bin in tow, which he allegedly did not remove from the apartment. His alleged disguises aroused the building superintendent’s suspicion. “He is coming in, he is dressing differently, changing his character. I said, ‘That’s not normal, he is hiding something,'” the building superintendent told the New York Post, according to the report.
Investigators responding to the shots initially did not apprehend Johnson.
Johnson then reportedly sent for the building superintendent, but before the superintendent responded, the police had returned and arrested Johnson.
“If I’d gone, you never know what he was going to do,” the superintendent reportedly said. “He was gonna frame me or shoot me or offer me something to get rid of the cameras or something.”
The superintendent reportedly told the police to look for the bin Johnson allegedly took into Small’s apartment. There, the police found a torso and also found a head in Small’s freezer, the report revealed.
“It feels like the devil just crawled through here last night,” a tenant, who reportedly saw Johnson walking a dog days before the murder, told the New York Post. “Sometimes we get fooled with the appearance … You are assuming this guy has a professional career … ” (RELATED: ‘This Thing Is Heavy’: Volunteers Discover Dead Body Stuffed In Suitcase Dumped In Lake)
Johnson, an ex-convict released in 2019 after a 20-year sentence for robberies, was a fellow inmate of Small’s at Sing Sing prison in Westchester County and may have had a grudge against Small, the outlet noted.
Johnson reportedly worked with the local public law firm Queens Defenders after his release. He became a well-known public advocate, appearing in Joe Rogan’s podcast and a photograph with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to the outlet.