The teenager who brutally took O’Shae Sibley’s life has pleaded not guilty.
On Friday, the 17-year-old, identified as Dmitriy Popov, pleaded not guilty. According to his lawyer, Mark Pollard, the teen did not commit a hate crime because he never said any racial slurs toward Sibley before killing him. However, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez feels otherwise.
“I think the evidence will show that this was a bias crime, a hate crime. And it’s a very rare occasion in this city that we have to charge a 17-year-old as an adult, and charged with murder the second degree as a hate crime, but the facts, in this case, warrant those charges,” Gonzalez stated in court.
Popov is accused of stabbing the professional dancer who was voguing along with friends at a Brooklyn gas station to a Beyoncé song as they stopped for gas. Popov and his group had hurled racial and anti-gay slurs at the group before a more lethal confrontation broke out, resulting in Sibley being stabbed.
Pollard has confirmed that the defense will argue self-defense, claiming that Popov had reason to bring out a weapon during his argument with Sibley. Pollard believes Sibley was the aggressor.
“He regrets what happened, certainly, but it doesn’t mean that he’s guilty of a crime,” Pollard maintained.
Sibley was a renowned choreographer who appeared in multiple music videos and was popular within the dancing community in both Philadelphia and New York City. Many celebrities have paid their respects to him, including Beyoncé.
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