Dmitriy Popov was sentenced on July 16 to 20 years in prison, nearly three years after the fatal stabbing of Black gay professional dancer O’Shae Sibley at a gas station in Midwood, Brooklyn. The punishment follows Popov’s June conviction for manslaughter as a hate crime in connection with the 2023 attack.
According to prosecutors, the stabbing occurred after Popov and a group of friends confronted Sibley’s group with homophobic slurs because the dancer was vogueing to music at a gas pump. “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 when announcing the sentence.
Sibley, who was 28 and from Philadelphia, performed with the Philadanco professional dance troupe. After relocating to Brownsville, Brooklyn in 2020, he became a devoted student in Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s drop-in classes. He also combined his passion for movement with his identity as a proud Black gay man, using public performances and projects directed by his close friend, choreographer Kemar Jewel, to advocate for social change and racial justice.
On July 29, 2023, after a day at the beach, Sibley and his friends stopped for gas at a station on Coney Island Avenue after 11 p.m. Still wearing swimming trunks, the group began dancing to a Beyoncé song playing from the car, and Popov’s group started taunting them with homophobic and racial slurs. The confrontation escalated for several minutes before the two groups separated, but Popov, then 17, allegedly kept filming on his phone while continuing to insult Sibley and his friends.
Sibley turned back and confronted Popov as a witness tried to step in. He chased Popov to the sidewalk, where the teenager pulled out a five-and-a-half-inch blade and stabbed him in the torso. Sibley was pronounced dead after being taken to Maimonides Hospital, and Popov remained on the run for about a week before surrendering. Popov had pleaded not guilty and testified that he acted in self-defense, but jurors rejected that account and convicted him last month. “I hope today’s sentence will bring some closure to O’Shae’s many loved ones and to the entire LGTBQ+ community, which has been shaken by this tragic and deeply upsetting crime,” Gonzalez said.
