The 17-year-old boy accused of stabbing O’Shae Sibley to death at a gas station in Brooklyn has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Dmitriy Popov was previously indicted by a grand jury on murder in the second degree as a hate crime, among other charges.
He appeared in court on Friday for his arraignment where he entered a not guilty plea on all charges.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez underscored the importance of prosecuting this incident as a hate crime when the indictment was handed down on Thursday.
“Many powerful people across this country have talked about this case and have been concerned that justice prevails,” said Mr Gonzalez, ABC 7 reported.
“I’m assuring the community that we are taking this case very seriously, that we’re going to make sure that justice prevails.”
The 17-year-old is accused of killing Sibley, a gay 28-year-old professional dancer, at at a Mobil gas station in Brooklyn back on 29 July.
Sibley as at the gas station with a friend just after 11pm that night and was reportedly dancing to a Beyonce song.
That’s when a separate group of young men allegedly began hurling homophobic insults at him, saying that they didn’t like “gay dancing” in their neighbourhood, according to eyewitnesses.
Sibley suffered “a stab wound to the torso. EMS responded and removed the victim to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased,” a spokesperson for NYPD said.
Mr Popov’s lawyer Mark Pollard previously told The Independent that his client was a “good Christian boy” who regularly attended church.
People gather at a gas station during a vigil to memorialise O’Shae Sibley— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.=copy23==copy23=)
“I have no idea where that came from. I just know he’s not Muslim. It’s very strange,” Mr Pollard told The Independent.
The teenage suspect turned himself in after authorities spent a week trying to find him – although he was easily identified through video footage.
Sibley’s killing has been widely condemned, with New York Mayor Eric Adams saying at a press conference last week: “This is a city where you are free to express yourself, and that expression should never end with any form of violence.”
Mr Popov’s next court date has been set for October.
The teen faces a minimum of 20 years in jail and a maximum of 25 years to life.
