Dmitriy Popov, charged as an adult with second-degree murder as a hate crime, testified that he stabbed O'Shae Sibley in self-defense. Popov admitted stabbing but denied key parts of law enforcement’s account, including hurling racist and anti-gay slurs. Surveillance video showed Sibley dancing to Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” shortly before the incident at a Brooklyn gas station in 2023. Police said Popov and his friends used slurs, and after an initial attempt to de-escalate, the confrontation escalated. Investigators reported Popov pulled out a knife and stabbed Sibley in the heart. Popov said he recorded a friend with his phone, later threw it away, and claimed Sibley’s group surrounded his group, leading to fear of being hurt.
"“I was scared that I was going to get hurt,” Popov testified in trial, according to The New York Times."
"According to police, Popov and his friends hurled slurs at Sibley's group. While Sibley initially tried to de-escalate the situation, the confrontation escalated again. Investigators said Popov then pulled out a knife and stabbed Sibley in the heart, according to reporting by ABC affiliate WABC at the time of the arrest."
"He said he had pulled out his phone to record Otis Pena, a friend of Sibley and a dancer. “At first, it was funny to me, a guy was dancing with his butt out,” Popov said. Popov said he later threw his phone away, so the footage he recorded was not available."
"But while he admitted in open court to stabbing Sibley, he denied key portions of law enforcement's narrative. He testified in New York Supreme Court for hours in his own defense, a rare move for any criminal defendant. There, he said, a friend of his hurled antigay slurs, but he did not approve of the language and, in fact, said he was entertained by Sibley and his friends dancing in the parking lot."
Read at Advocate.com
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