Dmitriy Popov, the 17-year-old charged in the stabbing murder of gay professional dancer O’Shea Sibley, 28, pleaded not guilty during arraignment today.
If convicted of murder, Popov faces 25 years to life in prison. The hate crime component among the charges could increase a minimum sentence from 15 to 20 years.
The 17-year-old charged with murder as a hate crime in the fatal stabbing of O’Shae Sibley, a gay Black dancer, at a Brooklyn gas station last month pleaded not guilty on Friday. https://t.co/FgrvzXIbKr
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 11, 2023
From the New York Times:
The killing Mr. Popov is accused of committing occurred on July 29, when the dancer, O’Shae Sibley, and a group of friends stopped for gas at a filling station in the Midwood section of Brooklyn while on their way home from the beach, prosecutors said.
As Mr. Sibley, 28, and his friends danced to a Beyoncé song, another group of people began to yell homophobic and anti-Black slurs at them, prosecutors said. A witness told the authorities he saw Mr. Popov stab Mr. Sibley.
After the arraignment, Mr. Popov’s lawyer, Mark Pollard, said he might pursue a self-defense argument at trial.
Read the full report here.
LGBTQ+ community honors professional dancer O’Shea Sibley, who was brutally murdered for dancing at a Brooklyn gas station. @evapilgrim has more. pic.twitter.com/RVz7DFhndV
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 3, 2023