O'Shea Sibley was killed during an attack at a gas station in Midwood. Prosecutors said Dmitriy Popov hurled homophobic and anti-Black slurs during the attack.
On Thursday, the victim's family and friends remembered him in court before the judge handed down the sentence.
Last month, a jury found Popov guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime.
Popov, who was 17 at the time of the killing, testified at trial that he was just defending himself when he stabbed Sibley, who was 28.
Sibley and his friends had stopped at the gas station after a beach outing on July 29, 2023. When they were pumping gas, one of them began dancing, drawing the attention of a nearby group of young men and teenagers.
Some of the people in that group began taunting and jeering at the dancing men, some of whom were shirtless and wearing bathing suits.
The two groups argued for about two minutes, then started to go their separate ways. Sibley's group went back to their car. Most of the other men went back inside the gas station - except for Popov.
Witnesses testified at trial that Popov shouted insults as he recorded with his phone. He denied using any bigoted language.
Sibley then confronted Popov again, lunging around a man who tried to step between the pair. Popov testified that Sibley chased him and punched him in the head. The security camera video didn't show the blow, but Popov testified that he stabbed Sibley with a 5-and-a-half-inch blade as he tried to protect himself.
"O'Shae Sibley was simply being himself - a black gay man enjoying a summer evening - but his mere existence caused this defendant to curse, harass and ultimately kill him," said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "Everyone in Brooklyn must be allowed to live as they wish and love who they want, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm others out of bias and hate. I hope today's sentence will bring some closure to O'Shae's many loved ones and to the entire LGBTQ+ community, which has been shaken by this tragic and deeply upsetting crime."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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