Man Guilty in Murder of Bowie State Student

A man was found guilty of a murder charge for stabbing a college student to death at a bus stop on the University of Maryland’s campus.

Sean Urbanski, 24, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Prince George’s County jury found him guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the May 2017 killing of Richard Collins III.

Collins was days from graduating from Bowie State University when he was killed.

Friends who were with 23-year-old Richard Collins III the night he was stabbed to death at the University of Maryland gave emotional testimony on Monday. News4's Tracee Wilkins reports the prosecution rested its case.

A prosecutor said a toxic mixture of alcohol and racist propaganda emboldened Urbanski to act on his hatred of black people. But a judge dismissed a hate crime charge against Urbanski on Tuesday before jurors began deliberating.

Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Hill Jr. ruled prosecutors didn't meet their legal burden of showing that racial hatred motivated Urbanski to stab Collins.

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The state urged the jury to convict Urbanski of first-degree murder because there was some premeditation. A state prosecutor had said racist memes poisoned Urbanski's mind.

The parents of 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III are setting up a scholarship fund for other ROTC students. Collins was stabbed in a random attack that prosecutors have called a hate crime.

The defense argued Urbanski was too drunk to plan to stab and kill Collins.