Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
A Brooklyn man has been convicted in the killing of beloved Philadelphia dancer O\u2019Shae Sibley, who was stabbed to death at a New York City gas station in 2023. <\/p>\n
Dmitriy Popov, 20, was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime and other charges related to \u201ctaunting, stabbing, and killing\u201d Sibley, which included \u201churling homophobic and anti-Black slurs,\u201d Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Sibley, 28, was a gay Black man, while Popov, who was 17 at the time of the killing, is white. Popov, who was tried as an adult, faces up to 25 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30. <\/p>\n
While filling up their car with gas on a Saturday night in July 2023 after a trip to the beach, Sibley and four of his friends blasted music by Beyonc\u00e9 and started dancing<\/a>, according to Joan Myers Brown, founder of the Philadelphia Dance Company and Sibley\u2019s former teacher. <\/p>\n Popov and two associates approached the car and threatened the group with racist and homophobic slurs, telling them they didn\u2019t want to see gay men dancing in their neighborhood, Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n His associates left the gas station, but Popov remained and continued to taunt the group of dancing friends. Ultimately, he stabbed Sibley on the side of his chest with a knife, puncturing his heart, Gonzalez said. Sibley was pronounced dead a short time later at a nearby Brooklyn hospital. <\/p>\n \u201cO\u2019Shae Sibley moved to New York to pursue his dream of being a dancer and choreographer, and his life was cut short when he was killed by this defendant, who couldn\u2019t stand the sight of O\u2019Shae and his friends just being themselves and living their lives openly as Black gay men,\u201d Gonzalez said, offering his hope that the verdict would \u201cbring O\u2019Shae\u2019s family, his friends, and the larger community some measure of solace.\u201d<\/p>\n