'Killer in a wig' accused of murdering NYC man and chopping up his body cosies up to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg - as his violent past and criminal history are revealed

A criminal justice advocate turned suspected killer in a wig was snapped with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg - and used sign language to help his deaf child rapist dad carry out drug deals as a child.  

The disturbing family history of Sheldon Johnson Jr, 48, has been unearthed following his murder charges this week, as he is accused of shooting and beheading 44-year-old Collin Smalls. 

His family's three generations of criminals were profiled in 2016 by Buzzfeed, including his father's convictions for raping his seven-year-old daughter several times in 1986. 

The father, also named Sheldon Johnson, told New York Daily News that he thought his son was 'reformed' in the wake of his week's beheading murder, a point Johnson Jr made a month ago in an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast where he detailed his comeback from incarceration. 

The ex-con had left prison in May 2023 after serving 25 years for a 1997 armed robbery, before becoming a client advocate for the Queens Defenders that put him in the orbit of progressive Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. 

Sheldon Johnson Jr (left) poses with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who the accused murderer met as part of his criminal justice advocacy work following his release from prison last year 

Johnson is accused of murdering and dismembering Collin Smalls, 44, (pictured) whose head and torso were found Tuesday inside a Bronx apartment 

A suspect, alleged to be Johnson, was seen in eerie surveillance footage walking in and out of the Bronx apartment this week, and donned a blonde wig in an apparent attempt at a disguise 

In his appearance on Rogan's podcast on February 1, Johnson Jr told the comedian about his journey 'changing his life around' after being jailed for two violent robberies.

He regaled Rogan's audience with tales of his rise to the top of one of the prison's most notorious gangs, before insisting it was all behind him.

'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,' he said at the time.

Lawyer Josh Dubin, a guest on the podcast, praised Johnson as a 'miracle' and argued that Johnson's decades behind bars were unfair as he left a victim with only 'two stitches.'  

Just a month after the episode aired, Johnson was charged in relation to a dismembered body found in a bin and a head stashed in a freezer. 

Eerie surveillance footage allegedly show Johnson sneaking in and out of the Bronx apartment with an array of bags and boxes, while also seemingly disguising himself with hats and a blonde wig. 

But Johnson's father says he is to blame for his son's criminal past, which saw him employ his young son to translate drug deals through sign language. 

'I know that my son was a good kid growing up,' he said following Johnson Jr's murder charges this week. 'We never had a good relationship... I'm still shocked this happened. I can't believe it.' 

Johnson, pictured being perp-walked from the NYPD 44th Precinct on Thursday, where he yelled, 'I'm innocent!' to reporters as he was led away in white overalls 

He felt his actions instilled a behavior that not only ruined his son's life, but that carried through to Johnson Jr's son, also called Sheldon Johnson. 

The youngest Johnson made headlines in 2008 when he was arrested on manslaughter charges as a 14-year-old, for a random attack on a Chinese Columbia University graduate. 

He punched graduate Mingui Yu, 24, in the head multiple times on the streets of Harlem, which caused Yu to fight for his life and run for safety. 

The Chinese national's attempts to escape led him to run into the road, where he was mown down by an oncoming SUV and killed. 

Johnson's son subsequently spent 18 months in juvenile detention boot camp for the crime.

'Generation to generation, it all stems from me,' Johnson Sr told Buzzfeed in 2016, through a sign language interpreter. 

'I feel disappointed. I regret a lot of the decisions I made in life. It enters my mind all the time. A big, huge amount of guilt. I ruined everything.'

Johnson's son, also named Sheldon Johnson, was convicted of manslaughter in 2008 aged just 14 after punching Chinese graduate Mingui Yu, 24, (pictured) in the head before he stumbled into traffic where he was struck and killed by an SUV 

Sheldon Johnson, 48, has been charged with murder after a severed head was found at a Bronx apartment

Johnson was seen transporting a large number of bags to and from the apartment, and the building's super speculated that he was 'hiding something,' officials siad.  

Johnson, who works with at-risk youth at the Queens Defenders in New York, told Rogan about how his criminal past drives his justice reform advocacy. 

During the chat, he admitted to dealing drugs and robbing those who could not settle their debts - acts for which a judge reportedly branded him, 'a menace to society.'

He described robbing a debtor and his girlfriend in the 1990s with the help of a gang of accomplices, one of whom pistol-whipped the victim leaving him with a head wound.

Johnson also admitted he 'roughed up' a second robbery victim, although he insisted the man was not physically harmed. Johnson was given consecutive 25-year sentences for the crimes.

While in prison, the convicted felon said he was smoking weed and drinking 'jailhouse hooch.'

'I was in a gang, I was top of the food chain. I had my own nation under me, I wasn't just like a random gang member,' Johnson told Rogan. 

But he claims that stints in solitary confinement, where he was restricted to a diet consisting of bread with cabbage and carrots six days a week, helped him rethink his approach to life.

'I was really looking at myself and reevaluating and thinking, "what the f*** are you doing",' Johnson explained.

'I remember thinking, "what are you going to do? Can you live out the next 48 years like this?" I said I couldn't do it.'

The justice reform advocate appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast on February 1 to talk about how he turned his life around. He was arrested weeks later

Johnson entertained Rogan with tales of brutal solitary confinement and prison gang politics, boasting that he was 'at the top of the food chain'

Johnson said it was thinking about his wife and his son growing up hearing stories of his 'notoriety' that spurred him on even further.

'When I got out [of solitary] I made a decision that I was going to walk away and I didn't care about the consequences,' Johnson explained.

Johnson added the gang was happy for him to take a step back because he caused problems for them due to his strict adherence to 'street rules.'

'I was what you call an authoritarian, I was a rule guy. I like rules, I like structure, I like things to be a certain way,' he told Rogan.

'This begins my journey. I got into school, I got my GED.' 

The uplifting story is a far cry from the narrative painted by cops after their grisly discovery of Small's remains this week.

Neighbors allegedly told investigators they heard a victim pleading for his life before two shots came from the apartment, sources told the New York Post.

Neighbors claimed they heard a victim screaming for help through the walls, pleading with the alleged killer: 'Please don't... I have a family' 

Johnson is a well-known criminal justice activist in New York City

Johnson, now been charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession, was snared by reports from concerned neighbors on Tuesday after shots were heard within the building. 

They reportedly told police making the wellness check that they subsequently saw a stranger coming and going from the apartment with cleaning supplies.

Fears were also sparked by the alleged pleading from the victim, who was heard screaming, 'Please don't... I have a family.'

The building's superintendent told the Post he told officers that he became concerned by the stranger's presence, particularly as they were not the tenant that he knew.

He claimed that the suspect carried a blue bin, seen in surveillance footage, into the apartment at around 2am after the shots were heard, but wasn't seen bringing it back.

'He brought in the bin … I told them, ‘Why is he bringing in the bin at 2 o’clock in the morning? He’s bringing in a bin so late,' the super said.

Johnson who works with at-risk youth at the Queens Defenders in New York and is a justice reform advocate

Evidence bags seen piled up outside the crime scene on Thursday, two days after cops made the grisly discovery 

'We tried to see if he took out the bin. He never took out the bin. I told them, ‘Look for a bin.’ And sure enough, it was there.' 

In a strange development, the building's super also claimed he saw the suspect leaving the scene in the victim's blue Audi, before returning wearing a blonde wig.

They felt that he was trying to disguise himself, saying he was 'dressing differently, changing his character... that's not normal, he is hiding something.'

Johnson was seen being perp-walked from the NYPD 44th Precinct on Thursday, where he yelled, 'I'm innocent!' to reporters as he was led away in white overalls. 

The justice reform activist has been open about his criminal past, as well of that of his father and his son.

On the Prison Writers website, Johnson writes about 'three generations with a father in prison' explaining his remorse at not being around to guide his son.

The then 14-year-old was jailed in 2008 for killing a Columbia graduate student, 'while trying to impress a group of friends', according to Johnson. 

'To express that I was mentally and emotionally devastated is an understatement,' he wrote.

'I was forced to reflect into the part that I played in the whole fiasco as my son’s father. “You should have been there to guide and raise him,” the voice repeated over and over.'