A Brooklyn jury has convicted Dmitriy Popov of fatally stabbing vogue dancer O'Shae Sibley in a 2023 killing that prosecutors portrayed as motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ hatred. The conviction on manslaughter as a hate crime could send the now 20-year-old to prison for as long as 25 years when he is sentenced in late June.
Popov was 17 when he killed Sibley outside a gas station on July 29, 2023. He claimed during trial that he acted in self-defense, telling jurors he stabbed Sibley with a five-and-a-half-inch blade because he feared being hurt. Popov denied directing any anti-gay slurs at Sibley.
The prosecution built its case on a different narrative. Prosecutors argued that Popov initiated a confrontation with Sibley and his friends, taunting and jeering at them while they danced and vogued outside the Brooklyn fuel station. When Sibley confronted him, authorities contended, Popov's response was violence rooted in bigotry against gay people.
Security camera footage shown at trial captured the initial clash between the two groups as they argued briefly before beginning to part ways. But Popov then approached Sibley's group, hurled insults, and began recording on his phone, witnesses testified. That escalation preceded the fatal encounter.
The jury deliberated for a week before returning guilty verdicts on Monday after a three-week trial in Brooklyn state supreme court. Popov was convicted not only of manslaughter as a hate crime but also of second-degree menacing, aggravated harassment in the second degree, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Jurors acquitted him of the more serious charge of murder as a hate crime, sparing him a life sentence.
Popov's attorney, Mark Pollard, characterized the outcome as mixed. "We're happy he wasn't guilty of murder but disappointed he wasn't acquitted on the rest of the charges," Pollard said, calling the verdict "probably bittersweet for both sides."
Sibley, 28, had returned from a beach birthday celebration with friends and stopped at the gas station to refuel while playing Beyoncé. He and his companions were dancing shirtless and voguing, a style rooted in the ballroom scene and historically centered in queer Black and Latino communities, when the encounter with Popov's group began.
A Philadelphia native, Sibley had moved to New York to advance his dancing career. He performed with the Philadanco dance company and used his artistry as an expression of his LGBTQ+ identity.
Popov was prosecuted as an adult under a New York law that allows anyone 13 or older accused of murder to be tried in the adult system, despite his age at the time of the killing.
Author James Rodriguez: "The hate crime conviction marks a significant moment for LGBTQ+ safety in New York, though the jury's acquittal on murder charges leaves room for debate about whether the outcome truly reflects the gravity of what happened that night."
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