Teen charged with murder as a hate crime in the stabbing of dancer O'Shae Sibley at a Brooklyn gas station
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- New York City authorities have charged a 17-year-old in the stabbing death of dancer O'Shae Sibley.
- The teenager attacked Sibley with a sharp object while Sibley was dancing to a Beyoncé song on July 29.
- Authorities said the suspect and his friends called Sibley derogatory names and used homophobic slurs.
A 17-year-old has been charged with murder as a hate crime in connection to the fatal stabbing of O'Shae Sibley at a Brooklyn gas station last weekend.
Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer who had been vogueing to a Beyoncé song when a group of males confronted him, died of a single stab wound to the left side of his ribcage that damaged his heart, according to Joseph Kenny, an assistant chief at the NYPD's detective bureau.
Kenny told reporters at a news conference on Saturday that Sibley and a group of friends had been traveling home from New Jersey when they stopped for gas on the evening of July 29. While they were filling up the tank, they began dancing to the music in their car.
At one point, a group of males demanded Sibley and his friends stopped dancing, Kenny said.
"As this group began to yell at Mr. Sibley and his friends, they began to call him derogatory names and use homophobic slurs against him," Kenny said, adding that the group also used "anti-Black" language.
Kenny said the altercation lasted roughly four minutes, rapidly moving from verbal to physical conflict, and ended when the perpetrator retreated from Sibley while striking him with a sharp object.
Sibley was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Kenny said. The suspect fled the scene in a Toyota Highlander.
Kenny did not name the suspect, possibly due to his age, and merely said he lives in Brooklyn and attends a nearby high school.
In addition to the murder charge, the suspect has also been charged with criminal possession of a weapon. He is currently incarcerated, Kenny said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference that the suspect was arrested after "everyday New Yorkers contributed basic information we needed to identify and apprehend" him.
Adams denounced the anti-LGBTQ animus directed at Sibley and his friends, and also refuted rumors that Muslims were involved in the attack.
Adams said that at the time of the attack, Sibley had been enjoying the same rights that all New Yorkers enjoy: self-expression.
"This is a city where you are free to express yourself," Adams said. "And that expression should never end with any form of violence."