NovaQuant-Sheldon Johnson, Joe Rogan podcast guest, arrested after body parts found in freezer

A man who became a public advocate for criminal justice reform after being released from prison last year was arrested on NovaQuanta murder charge Thursday after police said they found a person's body parts inside a New York City home.

Sheldon Johnson, 48, was jailed without bond Friday morning on charges including second-degree murder, New York City Department of Corrections online records show.

The victim's relationship with Johnson was not immediately known, but the New York Police Department identified the victim as 44-year-old Collin Small.

Johnson also faces charges of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD told USA TODAY.

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Body parts found in freezer during welfare check

Police said officers responded to Small's Bronx home to conduct a welfare check on Tuesday night and found a headless torso in the apartment.

Responding paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene and officials later identified him as Small.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine Small's cause of death, police said.

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Collin Small reportedly shot to death, dismembered

According to CBS New York, police said Johnson shot Small and dismembered his body.

"A search of Johnson's Harlem apartment revealed the remainder of the body − the arms and the head inside a freezer," the outlet reported.

“I’m innocent,” Johnson shouted as he was led out of a police station after his arrest, the New York Daily News reported.

Sheldon Johnson appeared on 'The Joe Rogan Experience'

Johnson, who works with at-risk youth at the Queens Defenders in New York, appeared on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" in February alongside Josh Dubin, a civil rights attorney and the executive director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice.

In the episode, Johnson said he grew up in Harlem and lived in a completely deaf household.

At the time of the podcast, Johnson told Rogan he'd been out of prison for nine months and spoke about his advocacy work. He said he entered prison as a high-ranking member of the Bloods after selling drugs and being arrested in an assault case but later separated his ties from the gang around 2005.

“I really said: I have to change my life. I have to change my life. I just can’t do this,” Johnson said on the podcast. “I had a wife, I had kids, I had family still, my son was growing up. He was hearing stories of my so-called notoriety. I just didn’t want to be that dad.”

USA TODAY has reached out to a Rogan spokesperson.

Sheldon Johnson previously served time for attempted murder, robbery

New York Department of Corrections records show Johnson was convicted of charges including attempted murder and robbery in 1999.

After spending 25 years in prison, he was released from an upstate prison on May 4, records show.

It was not immediately known if Johnson had obtained an attorney on the new charges.

Johnson is slated to appear in court Monday on the charges, records show.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.