Particular person in custody in reference to stabbing
NEW YORK — Police have an individual in custody in reference to the death of O’Shae Sibley, a gay man who was fatally stabbed after a confrontation between a group of friends dancing to a Beyoncé tune and a number of other younger males who taunted them, authorities mentioned Friday.
The New York Metropolis Police Division declined to right away establish the particular person or say what prison expenses they’d face, if any, describing them solely as a “particular person of curiosity.”
Sibley, a 28-year-old skilled dancer, died July 29 after being stabbed within the torso at a Brooklyn fuel station. His dying outraged New York Metropolis’s LGBTQ+ group and drew tributes from celebrities including Beyoncé and Spike Lee.
Sibley was at a Mobil station with pals getting fuel, listening to music and dancing shirtless on a sizzling evening once they have been heckled by a gaggle of younger males. One witness, Summy Ullah, mentioned in interviews that the boys complained that their habits offended them as Muslims.
Safety digital camera video confirmed the 2 teams arguing for a couple of minutes. Each side had walked away when Sibley and a buddy abruptly returned and once more confronted one of many younger males, who had stayed behind recording on his telephone.
On the video, Sibley might be seen following the the teenager after which lunging at him earlier than the 2 disappeared out of the digital camera’s view. A second later, he walks backward into view, checking his facet, then collapses to the sidewalk.
Considered one of Sibley’s pals who was there, Otis Pena, mentioned in a Fb video that Sibley was killed as a result of he was homosexual, and “as a result of he stood up for his pals.”
‘REST IN POWER’:Beyoncé, Spike Lee pay tribute to O’Shae Sibley, stabbed while dancing
Sibley carried out with the dance firm Philadanco in his native Philadelphia and in New York, the place he took courses with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey Extension program.
Mayor Eric Adams has promised “justice for O’Shae’s household and family members.”
“O’Shae Sibley’s life and exquisite spirit have been minimize brief by homophobia,” Adams mentioned in a message posted on social media Tuesday. “Bigotry can by no means take root in our metropolis.”