NEW YORK (PIX11) — A high school teen has been indicted with murder as a hate crime for allegedly stabbing O’Shae Sibley, a gay dancer vogueing outside a Brooklyn gas station, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Thursday.
“We have decided to prosecute this case as a hate crime,” Gonzalez said. “O’Shae and his friends were allegedly targeted because they were dancing. They were being themselves, dancing joyfully to Beyonce music at a Brooklyn gas station. Harming no one and refusing to stop even when confronted with anti-black and homophonic slurs demanding that they stop dancing.”
The teen allegedly stabbed Sibley during a confrontation between the two groups of friends. Last Friday, the NYPD arrested Dmitriy Popov, 17, of Brooklyn in connection to the killing on July 29th, according to court paperwork.
A Brooklyn grand jury heard all the evidence in this case and returned that the 17-year-old high school senior should be indicted with a count of murder in the second degree as a hate crime.
If convicted, the defendant faces a minimum of 20 years in jail and a maximum of 25 years in jail to life. Popov’s arraignment is set for Friday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
However, Sibley’s twin sisters are demanding that all parties involved face justice and full accountability for their alleged actions.
“Everyone should be held accountable for leaving the scene,” said Destineh Kelly after being contacted by PIX11’s Anthony DiLorenzo following the indictment.
“This is life, and it’s not a joke. My brother can’t be here. My niece asked for him I didn’t know what to tell her,” Dezirah Kelly added.
They hope their brother’s murder was not in vain.
“[O’Shae] is not the first person in the LGBTQIA community to be murdered, and I hope he will be the last,” Dezirah said.
