A man was sentenced on July 16 to 20 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for killing out gay 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley in a homophobic and racist attack in Brooklyn in 2023.
Dmitriy Popov, a 20-year-old from the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime, second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for his role in Sibley’s death.
The conviction and subsequent sentencing by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas comes three years after Popov fatally stabbed Sibley following an altercation at a Mobil gas station at 1921 Coney Island Ave. in the Midwood section of Brooklyn on July 29, 2023. Sibley and his friends, having just completed a day at the beach, stopped at the gas station and were voguing and listening to music when they drew the attention of Popov, then 17. Popov and his friends approached Sibley and his friends and hurled anti-LGBTQ and racist slurs.
“Get that gay s–t out of here,” Popov and his friends said at the time, prosecutors explained during the trial. In response, Sibley told Popov, “You don’t know us, we’re just having a good time and enjoying our lives. It’s all respect, we’re allowed to be here just like you.”
According to prosecutors, Popov continued to make hateful remarks, leading to a confrontation with Sibley and his friends. Popov then produced a knife, aimed at Sibley’s friend, and then stabbed Sibley on the side of his chest, puncturing his heart. Popov, at his trial, claimed he acted in self-defense and said he was “scared that I was going to get hurt.”
“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 after the sentencing on July 16. “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.”
On Aug. 4, 2023, in the aftermath of Sibley’s death, a massive crowd rallied at the intersection where the fatal stabbing took place. Community members told stories about Sibley’s life, denounced anti-LGBTQ violence, and concluded with a lively voguing scene in honor of Sibley.
“This is a shame that we have to be here in this neighborhood tonight, in the home of Stonewall, goddamn it,” Elisa Crespo, who was then the executive director of the statewide LGBTQ organization known as New Pride Agenda, said at that rally in August of 2023. “This is our community. We’re supposed to be safe in this city! People come here from all over the world and one of our own is killed in cold-blooded murder on the streets of Brooklyn. Shame!”
