O'Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old gay Black dancer, was fatally stabbed outside a gas station in Brooklyn in July 2023. Prosecutors said Dmitriy Popov, then 17, was motivated by hate and charged with murder in the second degree as a hate crime and manslaughter. The victim and four friends were filling a rental car with gas after a day at the beach, laughing and dancing. Prosecutors said Popov and a group of friends came out of the store hurling gay and racist slurs. After Sibley lunged at Popov, Popov plunged a five-and-a-half inch blade into Sibley’s chest, hitting his heart. Popov testified that he acted out of fear and denied using slurs.
"The dancer, O'Shae Sibley, 28, was out with four friends late that night, blasting Beyonce as they filled up a rental car with gas. Tired but happy after a long day at the beach, they were laughing and chatting. Mr. Sibley kicked up one leg gracefully as one of his friends shimmied up and down the parking lot, video shows."
"Soon after, Dmitriy Popov, who is charged with murder in the second degree as a hate crime and with manslaughter in Mr. Sibley's death, and a group of his friends came out of the store, hurling gay and racist slurs, prosecutors have said. When Mr. Sibley lunged at Mr. Popov, the teenager plunged a five-and-a-half inch blade into Mr. Sibley's chest, hitting his heart, they said."
"On Wednesday, Mr. Popov, now 20, took the stand and tried to convince a jury that he was acting out of fear, not hate. I was scared, he said, testifying in his own defense in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. I was scared that I was going to get hurt."
"For about three hours on Wednesday, Mr. Popov, dressed in a white shirt buttoned to his collar and black slacks, sat in the witness chair. He denied ever using gay or racist slurs directed at Mr. Sibley and his friends."
Read at www.nytimes.com
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