Beyoncé pays tribute to dancer viciously stabbed at Brooklyn gas station
Beyoncé has paid tribute to a promising dancer brutally stabbed to death at a Brooklyn gas station while “vogueing” to her music — in what authorities are investigating as an anti-gay hate crime.
“Rest in power O’Shae Sibley” the homepage of the superstar singer’s official website read Wednesday, days after the senseless slaying.
Sibley, 28, was allegedly attacked for “vogueing” — or performing a stylized modern dance routine — to Beyoncé’s hit “Renaissance” outside a gas station in Coney Island Saturday night, according to a pal who said he was present during the stabbing.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Otis Pena, one of Sibley’s friends, fumed in a Facebook post, sharing grisly photos from the slaying.
“[They were] screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and ya’ll decided to stab on one of us!!!”
Sibley was killed when a brawl broke out between two groups of men around 11 p.m. at a Mobil gas station on Coney Island Avenue.
Beyoncé paid tribute to a fan who was fatally stabbed while dancing to her music in Brooklyn.
O’Shae Sibley was “voguing” to Beyoncé’s song “Renaissance.” Kemar Jewel/Facebook
The stabbing, which was caught on surveillance footage, is being investigated as a possible hate crime, police have said.
Authorities have identified a suspect but no arrests have been made.
Sources on Monday said cops were looking for a 17-year-old boy who was seen fighting with Sibley before he was knifed in the chest. The teen then took off in a black SUV.
The singer’s homepage had after the stabbing.
The suspected killer, who was said to be Muslim, allegedly told Sibley and his pals that he was offended because they had been dancing shirtless in their swimming trunks, sources previously said.
In a Facebook Live video, Pena said that he, Sibley and some other friends were driving home after celebrating his birthday at the beach.
They stopped at the Mobil station located just two blocks from his house to fill up.
Pena said Sibley, his best friend of 15 years and “brother,” was killed in front of him.
Surveillance footage of the gas station before the brawl broke out. Seth Gottfried
One of Sibley’s friends wrote on Facebook that the men said “we Muslim and we don’t like gays” before the fight. Seth Gottfried
“I’m trying to put pressure on the wound, and there’s blood squirting everywhere,” the anguished friend said, describing the harrowing scene.
“Happy birthday to me, right?”
Pena also shared distressing images showing the gory scene and his hand coated in his butchered friend’s blood.
Sibley, who moved to New York City three years ago to pursue a career in the arts, was a talented dancer and choreographer who took part in the Ailey Extension program, the studio said.
“The Ailey organization mourns the tragic death of O’Shae Sibley, who was a cherished and devoted participant in our Ailey Extension program of dance classes,” the studio said in a statement.
The stabbing is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Seth Gottfried
Sibley’s friend Otis Pena shared a picture of his bloody hand after the stabbing. Otis Pena/Facebook
“O’Shae had incredible energy in the studio and was loved by instructors and fellow students. He recently shone during a special demonstration of West African dance at The Ailey Spirit Gala,” the statement continued.
Sibley’s aunt, Tondra Sibley, told Gothamist that her nephew was a “gentle spirit” who relocated to the Big Apple from his native Philadelphia in 2019 and was close to his family.
He had been looking forward to going on a trip to Disney World with his father this week, she said.
“Everyone that knew him knew that he was always smiling…he loved people, he loved dancing, he loved teaching dance,” she said.
The grieving relative called her nephew’s murder “senseless” as she demanded justice.
“Why would a person feel they have the right [to kill] just because they disagree with them?” she asked.
NYPD investigating the scene of the fatal stabbing. Seth Gottfried
Blood on the sidewalk outside of the Mobil station. Seth Gottfried
Last year, Sibley was part of “An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time” — a video project by contemporary artist Jacolby Satterwhite that was featured in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.
He starred in six music videos directed by his long-time friend and collaborator, Kemar Jewel.
The pair had come up together in the black and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture known as the Ballroom scene.
“He was a bright-eyed and goofy young man who had talent beyond anything I’d seen before,” Jewel, who founded JewelBox Productions, wrote on Facebook.
“He could sing, he could do hip hop, jazz, ballet, tap, anddddddd he was an incredible voguer! That’s how we became close.”
Sibley was remembered by his aunt as a “gentle spirit.” Sage O. Dumure Versailles/Facebook
In 2021, Sibley was featured in Jewel’s 7-minute dance video titled “SOFT: A Love Letter to Black Queer Men,” billed as a “visual love letter” that uses contemporary dance “to help Black Queer men heal from trauma, connect as a community, and serve as a reminder to be SOFT with themselves and each other.”
Sibley previously danced with the prestigious Philadelphia Dance Company, better known as Philadanco, which is renowned for preserving African-American traditions in dance.
Chilling video from the gas station obtained by The Post shows the fatal brawl.
The two sides can be seen in the clip exchanging words before the dispute turns physical.
Sibley, dressed in neon-pink swimming trunks, is then seen standing behind a black SUV seemingly in shock after being knifed.
He disappears from view as his friends and bystanders rush to his side — and the assailants begin to flee.
Sibley was taken to Maimonides Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
Source: New York Post
