A Brooklyn courtroom delivered its sentence Thursday, but O’Shae Sibley’s family made clear that no prison term could return the life taken from them. The sentence sends Dmitriy Popov to prison for 20 years, followed by five years of post-release supervision, after a jury convicted him of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime in the dancer’s 2023 fatal stabbing.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas sentenced Popov, now 20, on July 16. The jury also convicted him of second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. However, jurors acquitted him of the more serious charge of murder as a hate crime, which could have carried a life sentence.
Before the judge handed down the punishment, eight people delivered victim-impact statements describing the hole Sibley’s death left in his family, the dance world and New York’s Black gay community. Popov also addressed the courtroom and apologized for the killing.
“I apologize for this unfortunate event, I never wanted to kill anybody, never wanted this to go out like this…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,” Popov said.
Still, Sibley’s sister, Destiny Kelly, drew a painful line between a prison sentence and the permanent loss her family carries.
“We spoke about my brother because he’s the one is no longer here, it wasn’t about the defendant, yes, he got time, but his family can go visit him, they can talk to him, we can never see my brother again,” Kelly said.
Sibley was 28 when he and four friends stopped at a Mobil gas station on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood at approximately 11:06 p.m. on July 29, 2023. The group had spent the day at the beach and stepped outside the vehicle to stretch, listen to music and dance while getting gas.
According to evidence summarized by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Popov and two associates exited the gas station store and directed homophobic and anti-Black slurs toward the group. Prosecutors said Sibley initially attempted to calm the situation and explain that the friends were simply enjoying themselves.
Popov’s associates eventually walked away, but prosecutors said Popov stayed outside, recorded the men with his phone and continued antagonizing them. When the confrontation resumed, prosecutors said Popov pulled a knife, threatened one of Sibley’s friends and stabbed Sibley in the chest, puncturing his heart. Sibley was later pronounced dead at Maimonides Hospital.
During the trial, Popov denied using bigoted language and argued that he acted in self-defense. He testified that Sibley chased him and punched him in the head before he used a 5-and-a-half-inch blade. According to Associated Press reporting, the security video played for jurors did not show the alleged punch.
The three-week trial ended in June with Popov convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime. The verdict rejected the possibility of a complete acquittal, while the murder acquittal spared him the case’s harshest potential punishment. Thursday’s sentence landed between the eight-year minimum and 25-year maximum he faced for the manslaughter conviction.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the courtroom statements left an impact even after decades of prosecuting serious crimes.
“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.”
Sibley had performed with Philadelphia-based dance company Philadanco and attended classes through the Ailey Extension program in New York. His work also celebrated his identity as a Black gay man, including his involvement in “Soft: A Love Letter to Black Queer Men.” His killing sparked national attention, vigils and tributes from figures including Beyoncé and Spike Lee.
Following the sentencing, Gonzalez said Sibley had been targeted for openly existing as himself.
“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. “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.”
Popov’s 20-year sentence gives the court’s answer to the violence that ended Sibley’s life. Yet Kelly’s statement captured what the numbers cannot: Popov’s relatives can still speak to him and visit him. O’Shae Sibley’s family cannot do the same.
