O'Shae Sibley's Suspected Stabber Was Christian, Not Muslim: Report

BROOKLYN, NY — O'Shae Sibley's suspected killer was Christian, not Muslim as originally reported, according to reports.

A 17-year-old accused of fatally stabbing professional dancer Sibley was arrested Friday on hate crime and murder charges — to which the teenager pleaded not guilty, according to the NYPD and court records.

A witness heard the teenager and his group tell Sibley they were Muslim and hurl "homophobic slurs" toward Sibley and about five other men, court records show.

But this week, the teenager's lawyer and parents have contended the suspected stabber was Christian, not Muslim, according to the New York Daily News.

"[There exists] the impression that it came from hate from the Muslim community towards the LGBTQ+ community. That was in fact not true,"Mayor Eric Adams said on Saturday.

"Both are against any level of hate, and both communities have been victimized by Islamophobia, anti-gay and other forms of hate."

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Thursday announced the teenager was indicted on murder in the second degree as a hate crime, ABC 7 reported. He now faces a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The accused teenager is from Brooklyn and attends a local high school, according to Joseph Kenny, an assistant chief in the NYPD's detective bureau.

Prosecutors allege the teenager attempted to go on the run, shaving his head and shutting off his phone, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

New York City continued to mourn Sibley over a week after his killing. Over the weekend, hundreds of locals memorialized the 28-year-old Black gay man with rallies and vigils.

"Today was one of the hardest days of my life," said friend Darius Hollywood Moss said on Facebook after a funeral and celebration of life. "To Know that you Danced, Vogued, Turned, and did pirouettes all [through] the Gates of Heaven made me begin to try to smile again."

Only one stab took Sibley's life on July 29 outside a gas station near Coney Island Avenue and Avenue P, according to Kenny.

About 11:15 p.m., police found Sibley bloodied on the sidewalk, he said. Sibley had been vogueing at the station when a group started hurling "anti-Black" and "homophobic slurs" at Sibley and his friends, Kenny said.

The two groups interacted for four minutes before one of the people stabbed Sibley, Kenny said.

Sibley was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"This is a city where you are free to express yourself, and that expression should never end with any form of violence," Adams said Saturday.