The father of a criminal justice activist charged with murder
after a slew of body parts were found in a Bronx apartment told
The Post Friday he was �shocked� to learn of his ex-con son�s
arrest � because he thought he was reformed after a decades-long
prison stint.

Sheldon Johnson Jr., 48, was slapped with a murder charge on
Thursday after cops discovered the dismembered remains of 44-
year-old Collin Small stashed in a freezer and blue bin inside
the victim�s sixth-floor apartment, police said.

�I am surprised my son was arrested,� the alleged perp�s dad,
Sheldon Johnson Sr. said. �I was shocked.�

�He learned and studied in prison for 26 years,� he continued.
�He is a good man. He was doing work in a law office. There were
no problems.�

The accused killer was busted after he was allegedly caught on
surveillance video coming in and out of the victim�s apartment
on Summit Avenue, near West 162nd Street, in different outfits �
including a blond wig � in the hours before cops made the grisly
discovery.

Officers had encountered Johnson Jr. at the apartment when they
were responding to a welfare check after neighbors reported
hearing gunshots and spotted the alleged perp hauling a blue bin
inside, cops said.

A subsequent search of the property uncovered the victim�s
decapitated head � with a bullet hole in it � stashed inside a
black garbage bag in the freezer along with a severed arm, legs
and foot, police said.

The victim�s torso and other foot were found stuffed in the blue
bin, cops added.

Police haven�t yet disclosed the relationship between Johnson
Jr. and the victim, but law enforcement sources told The Post
they were lifelong friends.

Investigators are still probing what may have caused Johnson Jr.
to allegedly snap, but are looking at whether he and the victim
crossed paths at Sing Sing prison in Westchester County � and if
they possibly had beef there, the sources said.

The accused killer and Small both also have lengthy rap sheets
in New York and Pennsylvania, including multiple drug busts,
records obtained by The Post show.

The two men, at one point, also shared the same alias � Timothy
Gibbs � in Pennsylvania, per the sources.

The victim, who has a string of robbery and narcotics arrests to
his name, was jailed in New York for murder in 2006 and was
released on parole in 2017, prison records show.

Meanwhile, Johnson Jr., whose criminal record dates back to at
least 1990, was released from state prison in 2019 after serving
20 years for a series of armed robberies in 1999, according to
records.

In an interview on �The Joe Rogan Experience� podcast, Johnson �
who claimed he was once a member of the Bloods gang � said he
was arrested and sentenced to a maximum of 50 years for using a
gun to rob several men who owed him money for drugs.

After spending some time in and out of solitary confinement, the
felon said, he decided to �turn his life around� and got his GED
in prison.

Johnson Jr. started working as a staffer at the public law firm
Queens Defenders at some point after he was freed and became a
well-known victims� advocate � rubbing shoulders with VIPs like
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

�I still think he did a lot of good,� the alleged killer�s
father, who is deaf, said.

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/facebook-
page-images-sheldon-johnson-
77808171.jpg?resize=440,339&quality=75&strip=all

Sheldon Johnson (left), shown shaking hands with Manhattan DA
Alvin Bragg, started working as a staff member at the public law
firm Queens Defenders at some point after his prison release.

�I think he threw his life away but I still love him,� he
continued. �I don�t know what happened. I live in New Jersey, he
lives in New York.�

�He didn�t talk enough with the family.�

Johnson Jr. has been charged with murder, manslaughter and
weapon possession in Small�s slaying.

He was held without bail following his Bronx Criminal Court
arraignment Thursday night.

https://nypost.com/2024/03/08/us-news/dad-of-ex-con-turned-
criminal-justice-activist-arrested-over-head-in-freezer-thought-
son-was-reformed/