A 20-year-old Brooklyn smoke shop employee has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally stabbing gay professional dancer O’Shae Sibley at a Midwood gas station in 2023.
Last month, a Brooklyn jury found Dmitry Popov, who was 17 at the time of the stabbing, guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime for killing the 28-year-old Sibley during an altercation fueled by anti-gay animus.
Popov was also convicted of second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. But he was acquitted of the most serious charge, second-degree murder as a hate crime.
According to evidence presented at trial, Popov and two friends encountered Sibley and his friends at a Mobil gas station on July 29, 2023, and began harassing them for dancing and voguing to music while filling up their car. Sibley and his friends were returning from a day at the beach.
The three youths hurled homophobic and anti-Black slurs at the men, telling them to “Get that gay shit out of here” and mocking their appearances and effeminate mannerisms.
Prosecutors said Sibley attempted to defuse the situation, but Popov continued harassing the group. When confronted by Sibley and two of his friends, Popov pulled out a knife, pointed it at the men, and stabbed Sibley in the chest, puncturing his heart.
At trial, Popov’s defense attorney, Mark Pollard, argued that his client acted in self-defense after Sibley physically confronted him. Popov claimed that Sibley had punched him in the head, although surveillance footage did not show Sibley striking Popov and witness testimony did not support his account.
Before he was sentenced on July 16, Popov addressed the court and apologized to Sibley’s family and friends, according to New York ABC affiliate WABC.
“I apologize for this unfortunate event, I never wanted to kill anybody, never wanted this to go out like this….The decision that was made, I wish I could take back from my heart. I know there’s nothing I can say right now that can bring O’Shae back,” Popov said.
Pollard asked Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas to grant Popov “Youthful Offender Status,” a designation that would prevent the conviction from becoming part of his permanent criminal record. According to News 12 Brooklyn, Pollard argued that 17-year-olds are not fully formed adults and are prone to reacting impulsively or emotionally, but that Popov had matured over the past three years and demonstrated genuine rehabilitation.
But in handing down the 20-year prison sentence, Douglas appeared more swayed by impact statements from eight of Sibley’s friends and family members, who remembered him as a loving, caring person and described how his death had devastated them and threatened their sense of safety.
“I feel like I’ve been robbed of my joy,” Malik Berry, one of Sibley’s friends, said in court.
“We spoke about my brother because he’s the one who is no longer here, it wasn’t about the defendant, yes, he got time, but his family can go visit him, they can talk to him, we can never see my brother again,” Sibley’s sister, Destiny Kelly, said.
“O’Shae Sibley was simply being himself — a Black gay man enjoying a summer evening — but his mere existence caused this defendant to curse, harass and ultimately kill him,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a press release.
“Everyone in Brooklyn must be allowed to live as they wish and love who they want, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm others out of bias and hate,” Gonzalez added. “I hope today’s sentence will bring some closure to O’Shae’s many loved ones and to the entire LGBTQ+ community, which has been shaken by this tragic and deeply upsetting crime.”
Philadelphia Police are searching for a man suspected of carrying out three shootings -- two of them fatal -- in Philadelphia's Hunting Park neighborhood over the past six weeks.
The suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Jahylin Melchur, who remains at large.
Surveillance images show Melchur wearing what Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI described as "distinctive clothing." In one image, he is seen wearing a red hooded jacket, black pants, and black sneakers. In another, he appears in a black jacket over a gray hoodie, black pants, and black sneakers.
A Clovis, New Mexico, man was arrested on federal charges after allegedly posting threatening comments targeting a Pride festival in nearby Lubbock, Texas.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Michael Kenneth Thompson, 44, allegedly made the threatening comments on June 27 in response to a Facebook post about Lubbock Pride Fest 2026 published by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
In response to the post, numerous Facebook users -- many from West Texas and New Mexico -- disparaged LGBTQ people, labeled them "mentally ill" or sinful, or called for the festival to be "burned down."
A man has been arrested for allegedly whipping a 12-year-old boy with a belt while hurling anti-gay slurs at him.
Kevin Maxwell, 37, is accused of assaulting the 12-year-old near a playground at the New York City Housing Authority's Baruch Houses on Manhattan's Lower East Side around 12:45 a.m. on April 29.
Police allege that Maxwell, a resident of Brooklyn's Canarsie neighborhood, approached the boy, shouted anti-LGBTQ slurs at him, and then struck him with a belt. Authorities have not said what prompted the alleged attack.
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