A Brooklyn jury has convicted the man who killed O’Shae Sibley of manslaughter as a hate crime, not murder.

Quick Take

• The jury found Dmitriy Popov guilty of **first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime**.^[1][5]
• Prosecutors said the case grew out of an anti-gay and anti-Black confrontation at a Brooklyn gas station.^[1][3]
• The original charge was **second-degree murder as a hate crime**, but the verdict was lower than that charge.^[3][5]
• Popov’s defense said he acted in self-defense and denied that he used slurs.^[2][4]

Verdict in a Case That Stirred Anger Across New York

Brooklyn jurors convicted Dmitriy Popov of manslaughter as a hate crime in the death of O’Shae Sibley.^[1][5] The verdict closes a case that drew sharp attention because Sibley was killed after dancing at a gas station in 2023.^[3][4] Prosecutors said the attack followed a hostile exchange filled with homophobic and anti-Black slurs.^[1][3]

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said the jury reached a guilty verdict after hearing evidence from the trial.^[1] The office had earlier charged Popov with second-degree murder as a hate crime, along with related counts.^[3] The later conviction shows jurors accepted the hate-crime theory, but not the top murder charge.^[1][5]

How Prosecutors Framed the Attack

Prosecutors said Sibley and his friends were outside a gas station after a beach trip when the confrontation started.^[3] According to the district attorney, Popov and others hurled hateful slurs, then the conflict escalated again before Sibley was stabbed in the chest.^[3] The prosecution also pointed to surveillance video and witness accounts as proof that the killing was tied to bias.^[1][3]

That framing mattered because New York hate-crime cases often turn on motive as much as the act itself.^[4] In this case, the state argued that the words, the video, and the sequence of events showed more than a street fight.^[1][3] For many readers, the larger point is plain: if bias language helped drive the attack, the verdict reflects a serious assault on basic order and decency.^[1][3]

Defense Claims and the Lower Conviction

Popov’s defense rejected the murder case and said he did not intend to kill Sibley.^[2][4] In court, Popov testified that he acted in self-defense and denied shouting slurs.^[2][4] His lawyer also said the incident was not about hate, which matched the strategy that pushed jurors away from the murder charge.^[2][4]

The manslaughter verdict does not erase the public record of a deadly stabbing.^[1][5] It does, however, show that jurors were not persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt on the most serious count.^[2][5] Sentencing was set for later in June, which will decide Popov’s punishment under the hate-crime conviction.^[1]

What the Verdict Means

This case lands in a city and state already worn down by crime, weak public trust, and endless fights over public safety.^[1][5] The conviction gives Sibley’s family a legal victory, but it also raises a familiar question for conservatives: why do violent street confrontations keep reaching the point of death before the system steps in hard enough?^[1][3] The facts described by prosecutors show a failure of restraint that turned ugly fast.^[3]

Sources:

[1] Web – Man who killed O’Shae Sibley after he danced at a Brooklyn gas station …

[2] Web – Brooklyn Man Convicted of Manslaughter as a Hate Crime for …

[3] YouTube – Dmitiry Popov arraigned in O’Shae Sibley’s stabbing death

[4] Web – Brooklyn Man Convicted of Manslaughter as a Hate Crime for …

[5] Web – Man accused of hate crime killing of dancer O’Shae Sibley testifies …