When a 17-year-old youth fatally stabbed a gay Black dancer outside a gas station in Brooklyn in July 2023, the police and prosecutors said he was motivated by hate.
The dancer, O’Shae Sibley, 28, was out with four friends late that night, blasting Beyoncé as they filled up a rental car with gas. Tired but happy after a long day at the beach, they were laughing and chatting. Mr. Sibley kicked up one leg gracefully as one of his friends shimmied up and down the parking lot, video shows.
Soon after, Dmitriy Popov — who is charged with murder in the second degree as a hate crime and with manslaughter in Mr. Sibley’s death — and a group of his friends came out of the store, hurling gay and racist slurs, prosecutors have said. When Mr. Sibley lunged at Mr. Popov, the teenager plunged a five-and-a-half inch blade into Mr. Sibley’s chest, hitting his heart, they said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Popov, now 20, took the stand and tried to convince a jury that he was acting out of fear, not hate.
“I was scared,” he said, testifying in his own defense in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. “I was scared that I was going to get hurt.”
For about three hours on Wednesday, Mr. Popov, dressed in a white shirt buttoned to his collar and black slacks, sat in the witness chair. He denied ever using gay or racist slurs directed at Mr. Sibley and his friends.
He mumbled throughout much of his testimony and was sometimes unintelligible. He appeared calm, but swallowed hard and spoke softly when he was asked about stabbing Mr. Sibley.
It is unusual for defendants to take the stand during a criminal trial since the onus is on prosecutors to prove a person’s culpability. Most defense attorneys avoid the strategy out of concern it could expose their clients to cross-examination and undercut them in front of the jury.
In the case of Mr. Popov, there was never any doubt he killed Mr. Sibley: Video showed the killing and he admitted it in open court.
But Mr. Popov’s lawyer, Mark Pollard, said his client had wanted to take the stand from the beginning of the case because he “is telling the truth.” He described Mr. Popov as a teenager who acted impulsively and in a panic because he was afraid and very young.
“He had no choice but to take the stand to tell the jury that he was acting out of self-defense,” Mr. Pollard said.
Mr. Popov said that night he pulled out his phone to record Mr. Sibley’s friends because he was amused by their antics. One of them, Otis Pena, a dancer and close friend of Mr. Sibley, was wearing a jock strap as he danced in the parking lot.
“At first, it was funny to me, a guy was dancing with his butt out,” Mr. Popov said.
He said that he did not call out slurs but that one of the teenagers in the group he was with did so and that he did not approve of what that youth was saying.
When Mr. Sibley, who wore only swim trunks, sneakers and a black baseball hat, approached them, he was calm at first, trying to de-escalate the tension, Mr. Popov said. But as the argument grew more heated, Mr. Sibley and his friends started to surround him, and he said he felt overwhelmed.
He said Mr. Sibley “ran at me” and punched him in the head, leading him to stab Mr. Sibley.
During cross-examination, one of the prosecutors, Sarah Jafari, raised her voice and challenged Mr. Popov’s testimony, pointing out that at least half a dozen witnesses had testified that he cursed and used slurs against Mr. Sibley and his friends.
“So it’s your testimony that they all came in here and lied to this jury but you’re the one who is telling the truth?” Ms. Jafari asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I did not say no racial slurs or any homophobic slurs.”
She played the surveillance video outside the gas station in the Midwood neighborhood that showed Mr. Sibley and his friends walking away at one point, with Mr. Sibley holding up a peace sign. Mr. Popov’s friends had gone back inside the gas station, but he remained outside, recording and calling out to Mr. Sibley and his friends.
The video did not include any audio, but Mr. Popov appears to be yelling and smiling.
Mr. Popov, who at the time lived in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn with his mother, said he was telling Mr. Sibley and his friends to go away because they were yelling at him and telling him to go away.
Under New York State law, a person cannot claim self-defense if they started a confrontation and if, when they had a chance to walk away, failed to retreat.
Mr. Popov acknowledged that Mr. Sibley did not appear to have any weapons.
Ms. Jafari repeatedly pointed out that Mr. Popov had several chances to walk away from Mr. Sibley.
“When your friends said, ‘OK, enough’ and walked away, you decided to stay, isn’t that right?” she asked.
Yes, Mr. Popov said.
Hurubie Meko contributed reporting.
Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas.
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