A Brooklyn judge has sentenced Dmitriy Popov to 20 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of professional dancer O’Shae Sibley outside a gas station in 2023.
The punishment came after a jury found Popov guilty of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime, rejecting his claim that he was acting in self-defense.
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| Dmitriy Popov |
The deadly encounter happened on July 29, 2023, in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Sibley, 28, and his friends had just returned from a beach birthday celebration and stopped at a Mobil station to refuel.
They were playing music and dancing, with some of them shirtless and others wearing bathing suits.
A separate group of young men and teenagers at the station started to taunt and jeer at the dancers, as per The Guardian.
The two sides argued for roughly two minutes before heading in different directions, according to a security video shown at trial. Sibley’s group walked back toward their car, and most of the other group moved toward the store.
However, Popov did not follow the men back into the store but He walked toward Sibley’s group instead, recording on his phone and, according to witness testimony, yelling homophobic and anti-Black slurs.
This led to a physical altercation and Popov pulled out a five-and-a-half-inch blade and stabbed Sibley because he claimed he was scared he would be hurt.
Popov was later arrested and tried as an adult under a New York law that allows anyone older than 13 accused of murder to face prosecution in adult court.
During his trial, the jury did not accept the self-defense story, and after a three-week trial and a week of deliberations, Popov was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime, second-degree menacing, aggravated harassment in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Jurors acquitted him of the more serious charge, which was murder as a hate crime, as this charge would have carried a possible life sentence.
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| O’Shae Sibley |
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| O’Shae Sibley dancing |
Popov, who was 17 years old at the time of the killing, learned his fate on July 17, 2026, inside a state supreme court courtroom.
Before the sentence was handed down, eight people delivered victim impact statements that filled the courtroom with raw emotion.
Sibley’s sister, Destiny Kelly, told the court that the family’s loss is permanent in ways the defendant’s loved ones will not experience.
“We spoke about my brother because he’s the one who is no longer here, it wasn’t about the defendant,” Kelly said. “Yes, he got time, but his family can go visit him, they can talk to him, we can never see my brother again.”
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who has prosecuted hate crime cases for decades, said the pain in the room moved him deeply.
“I sobbed and I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Gonzalez said. “When you realize that a life as brilliant as O’Shae was stolen and for the motives, for the hateful reasons why it was done, it touches people.”
Popov also spoke directly to the court, offering an apology before the judge announced the sentence.
“I apologize for this unfortunate event, I never wanted to kill anybody, never wanted this to go out like this,” Popov said. “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.”
Prosecutors consistently framed the crime as one rooted in bias.
“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,” Gonzalez said in a statement after the sentencing.
“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. 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,” he added.
Sibley grew up in Philadelphia and danced with the Philadanco company before moving to New York to continue his career.
He celebrated his identity through his art, and those who spoke in court described a young man whose promise was extinguished in a gas station parking lot because of who he was.
In addition to the 20 years prison term, he will face five years of post-release supervision.
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