Man charged with killing gay dancer O’Shae Sibley denies hate crime

The man who killed gay dancer O’Shea Sibley outside a New York gas station has told a court he acted in self-defense.

Dmitry Popov has denied hurling racist and anti-gay slurs before fatally stabbing Sibley in 2023.

Prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder, a hate crime.

“I was scared that I would get hurt,” Popov said, according to the report. new york times.

The stabbing was captured on video at a Brooklyn gas station. Sibley and his friends stopped there after a day at the beach. When Popov, then 17, arrived with his group, an altercation began.

Surveillance camera footage showed Sibley dancing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album shortly before the incident. Police claimed that Popov and his friends hurled slurs at Sibley’s group.

Investigators said Popov pulled out a knife and stabbed Sibley in the heart.

Popov, now charged as an adult, admitted in open court to the stabbing but denied key parts of the prosecution’s version of events.

Popov claimed that Sibley and his friends surrounded the group and that Sibley punched him in the head before stabbing him in self-defense.

“So your testimony is that they all came here and lied to this jury, but are you the one telling the truth?” prosecutor Sarah Jafari asked. “Yes,” Popov answered, adding that he had not used any defamation.

His account is said to be contradicted by surveillance video. Footage showed him remaining outside while his friends went back inside. He then yelled at Mr Sibley’s group and charged towards them.