NEW YORK (AP) — A jury convicted a man of manslaughter as a hate crime on Monday in the death of O’Shae Sibley, who was killed at a Brooklyn gas station during a confrontation that began with a group of young people shouting racist and anti-gay slurs at the professional dancer and his friends as they vogued to a Beyoncé song.
Dmitriy Popov, 20, who was 17 at the time of the killing, testified at trial that he was just defending himself when he stabbed Sibley, 28, in 2023.
Prosecutors said Popov acted out of hate, taunting and jeering at Sibley, then killing him when he reacted to the provocations.
The verdict on the first-degree manslaughter charge capped a three-week trial in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
The jury, which began deliberation a week ago, also convicted Popov of second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, but acquitted him of a more serious charge of murder as a hate crime, which carried the potential of a life sentence.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a release that it was his “hope that as the LGBTQ+ community celebrates the beginning of Pride Month, this verdict will bring O’Shae’s family, his friends, and the larger community some measure of solace. Hate has no place in Brooklyn.”
He also said Sibley’s dream was of being a dancer and choreographer and his life was “cut short when he was killed by this defendant, who couldn’t stand the sight of O’Shae and his friends just being themselves and living their lives openly as black gay men.”
Defense attorney Mark Pollard said he will appeal the verdict, which was “probably bittersweet for both sides.”
“We’re happy he wasn’t guilty of murder but disappointed he wasn’t acquitted on the rest of the charges,” he said.
The lawyer said his client faces a minimum of eight years in prison on the manslaughter charge and a maximum of 25 years.
Popov is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30.
Sibley and his friends had stopped at the gas station after a beach outing on July 29, 2023. When they were pumping gas, one of them began dancing, drawing the attention of a nearby group of young men and teenagers. Some of the people in that group began taunting and jeering at the dancing men, some of whom were shirtless and wearing bathing suits.
Security camera video, played at the trial, recorded the encounter.
The two groups argued for about two minutes, then started to go their separate ways. Sibley’s group went back to their car. Most of the other men went back inside the gas station — except for Popov.
Witnesses testified at trial that Popov shouted insults as he recorded with his phone. He denied using any bigoted language.
Sibley then confronted Popov again, lunging around a man who tried to step between the pair. Popov testified that Sibley chased him and punched him in the head. The security camera video didn’t show the fatal blow, but Popov testified that he stabbed Sibley with a 5-and-a-half-inch blade as he tried to protect himself.
“I was scared that I was going to get hurt,” Popov testified.
Sibley performed with the Philadelphia-based dance company Philadanco and took classes with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey Extension program in New York. He also used dance to celebrate his LGBTQ+ identity in works such as “Soft: A Love Letter to Black Queer Men,” choreographed by Kemar Jewel.
Sibley’s funeral in his hometown of Philadelphia attracted about 200 people. Politicians and celebrities, including Beyoncé and Spike Lee, paid tribute in social media posts.
Popov was born in the U.S. to a family of Russian origin and was a high school senior at the time of his arrest.
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