There is still no verdict in the murder trial of Dmitry Popov, who is accused of stabbing O'Shea Sibley to death outside a gas station in Midwood, Brooklyn, in 2023. Today was the jury's first full day of deliberations in the case.
Jurors sent two separate notes to the judge asking for the definition of the law for each of the nine counts Popov faces. The charges include second-degree murder as a hate crime and manslaughter as a hate crime.
It has been three years since O'Shea Sibley and his friends were dancing outside of a gas station in Midwood after a long beach day. Popov, who was seventeen at the time, and his friends allegedly started yelling homophobic and racial slurs at the group.
The altercation escalated and Popov stabbed Sibley in the heart with a knife. Sibley died from the wound. The killing drew national attention as a potential hate crime against a gay man.
The defense has argued that Popov acted in self-defense during the confrontation. The jury must go through each of the nine charges and decide whether the stabbing counts as a hate crime and whether Popov's self-defense claim is justified.
The fact that jurors sent notes asking for legal definitions of all nine counts suggests they are carefully reviewing each charge. Deliberations will continue tomorrow.
The case has been closely watched as one of the most prominent hate crime prosecutions in Brooklyn in recent years. The outcome will depend on whether the jury finds that homophobic and racial bias motivated the attack or accepts the defense argument of self-defense.