Man convicted in O’Shae Sibley hate crime killing sentenced to 20 years in prison

A New York judge has sentenced O’Shae Sibley’s killer to 20 years in prison.Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Dena Douglas handed down the sentence weeks after a jury convicted Dmitriy Popov of manslaughter as a hate crime.Surveillance video showed Popov, who is now 20, fatally stabbing Sibley after Popov and his friends confronted Sibley’s group as they danced to Beyoncé songs at a Brooklyn gas station. Prosecutors said Popov hurled racist and anti-gay slurs at Sibley before killing him.Related: Defendant charged with killing gay NYC dancer denies hate crime motive at trial“O’Shae Sibley was simply being himself – a Black gay man enjoying a summer evening – but his mere existence caused this defendant to curse, harass and ultimately kill him,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.“Everyone in Brooklyn must be allowed to live as they wish and love who they want, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm others out of bias and hate. I hope today’s sentence will bring some closure to O’Shae’s many loved ones and to the entire LGBTQ+ community, which has been shaken by this tragic and deeply upsetting crime.”Popov, who testified at trial that he killed Sibley in self-defense and denied using slurs, must also serve five years of post-release supervision after completing his prison sentence.He could have faced a harsher sentence. The jury acquitted him of murder and instead convicted him of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime, as well as second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.Related: Man convicted of hate crime in fatal stabbing of gay New York City dancer O’Shae SibleyVideo showed Popov and his friends initiating the confrontation after seeing one of Sibley’s friends dancing outside a car. “Get that gay s–t out of here,” one member of Popov’s group said, according to prosecutors.While the other men eventually walked away, pr