{"id":4417,"date":"2026-06-13T11:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T11:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/13\/new-york-man-who-killed-gay-dancer-faces-25-years-after-hate-crime-conviction\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T11:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T11:57:19","slug":"new-york-man-who-killed-gay-dancer-faces-25-years-after-hate-crime-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4417","title":{"rendered":"New York man who killed gay dancer faces 25 years after hate-crime conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1vsw7yz\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"4eebd6a6-c210-4659-824f-359a2b859adb\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a person holding a photo \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e8abfc9447f5a57eee970cb4667963ec49c77ea\/0_0_5684_3782\/master\/5684.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"309.40007037297676\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A memorial to O&#8217;Shae Sibley in Brooklyn.<\/span> Photograph: Tracie Van Auken\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"4eebd6a6-c210-4659-824f-359a2b859adb\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A memorial to O&#8217;Shae Sibley in Brooklyn.<\/span> Photograph: Tracie Van Auken\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-shrpec\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1jwoxwb\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">New York man who killed gay dancer faces 25 years after hate-crime conviction<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-m5tuef\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Dmitriy Popov fatally stabbed O\u2019Shae Sibley in Brooklyn in 2023 and was found guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-l3z1yk\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-6d4g12\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A New York City man who was recently convicted of a hate crime in the 2023 stabbing death of vogue dancer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/aug\/08\/oshae-sibley-teen-suspect-charged-hate-crime\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">O\u2019Shae Sibley<\/a> is facing a prison sentence of between eight and 25 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sentencing for Dmitriy Popov, who was 17 at the time of Sibley\u2019s slaying, was tentatively scheduled for 30 June following his conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Popov, 20, testified during his trial that he fatally stabbed Sibley on 29 July 2023 outside a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/brooklyn\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Brooklyn<\/a> gasoline station while legally defending himself. But prosecutors argued that Popov was motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ hatred \u2013 taunting, jeering and then killing Sibley when the gay man reacted to the defendant\u2019s provocations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A jury on Monday found Popov guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime after a three-week trial in Brooklyn state supreme court. Jurors, who deliberated a week, also found Popov guilty of second-degree menacing, aggravated harassment in the second degree and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But it acquitted him of a more serious charge of murder as a hate crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The jury\u2019s decision spared Popov a sentence of life imprisonment. But Popov\u2019s attorney, Mark Pollard, said the manslaughter conviction meant his client was facing between eight and 25 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Pollard called the verdict against Popov \u201cprobably bittersweet for both sides\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe\u2019re happy he wasn\u2019t guilty of murder but disappointed he wasn\u2019t acquitted on the rest of the charges,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sibley had come back from a beach birthday party with friends and stopped to fill up his car with gasoline while blasting Beyonc\u00e9 music when he encountered Popov.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The 28-year-old Sibley and his friends were dancing shirtless and voguing \u2013 or engaging in a form of dance popularized on the ballroom scene by queer Black and Latino people \u2013 when another group began taunting them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Both groups argued for a couple of minutes before starting to go their separate ways, as seen in security camera video played at Popov\u2019s trial. But Popov then approached Sibley\u2019s group, hurled insults and recorded on his phone, and Sibley confronted him, according to witnesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Popov testified that he stabbed Sibley with a five-and-half-inch blade to protect himself, having become \u201cscared that he was going to get hurt\u201d. He denied that he aimed bigoted language at Sibley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">New York prosecutors tried Popov as an adult under a state law which allows anyone older than the age of 13 who is accused of murder to be considered an adult.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sibley grew up in Philadelphia and performed there before moving to New York to continue pursuing his dancing career. He belonged to the Philadanco dance company and used his dancing to celebrate his LGBTQ+ identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><em>The Associated Press contributed<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1xavc9x\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/new-york\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">New York<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=New%20York%20man%20who%20killed%20gay%20dancer%20faces%2025%20years%20after%20hate-crime%20conviction&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/13\/new-york-oshae-sibley-death-conviction?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F13%2Fnew-york-oshae-sibley-death-conviction&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/13\/new-york-oshae-sibley-death-conviction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1el9k3p\"><span class=\"dcr-1vetsv0\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A memorial to O&#8217;Shae Sibley in Brooklyn. Photograph: Tracie Van Auken\/AP View image in fullscreen A memorial to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}