When a man and his girlfriend showed up to a hate crime trial in shirts seeking justice for the slain victim, the judge admonished them, asking their shirts be covered up, the male protester said in an interview with WJZ. The shirt he wore read “Justice 4 Richard” in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Richard Collins III, a black Bowie State University student who was stabbed to death early May 20, 2017 while visiting the University of Maryland's campus.
Jury selection began Monday in the trial against Collins’ alleged killer, Sean Urbanski, and by Wednesday, a pool of about 100 potential jurors who showed up to court had been narrowed down to the jurors seated for trial, according to WTOP. Urbanski, a white 24-year-old man, was charged with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime, the news station reported. He allegedly approached Collins at a bus stop and told the man, who was with two friends at the time of his death, to “step left if you know what’s best for you,” according to a petition the 2nd Lieutenant Richard W. Collins III Foundation circulated. Collins, 23, reportedly refused just before a knife was forced into his chest, and he died just three days before he was set to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Bowie State, according to the school.
Prosecutors later found racist memes on Urbanski’s cell phone as well as evidence he was a member of a Facebook group operated by the white supremacist group, Alt Reich Nation, according to WJZ. Prosecutors showed the jury the memes during court Wednesday and also played surveillance video from the scene that was so graphic it led Collins’ parents to leave the room, the news station reported.
The footage showed Urbanski Collins with his hands at his sides as Urbanski stabbed him in the chest, WJZ reported. “He walked up to him and targeted him for no reason than him being a black man. He was the only black man at that bus stop at that time,” Deputy State’s Attorney Jason Abbott said, according to WJZ. While Urbanski doesn’t deny he was the person wielding the knife, the more complex question that the jury will be answering is whether the stabbing constitutes a hate crime. Abbott argued Urbanski “poisoned his mind” with racist images; while defense attorney William Brennan claimed his client was “out-of-control” drunk at three times the legal limit at the time of the attack, according to WJZ. “Sean Urbanski was so drunk he was unable to premeditate, unable to form the intent to kill,” Brennan said.
RELATED: Murder trial to start after Army lieutenant stabbed to death allegedly for refusing to 'step left'
Collins’ family said in a statement released to WJZ they were just happy the trial was finally starting after numerous trial delays. “The delays in this case have prolonged our pain and anguish over his senseless murder,” the family said in the statement. “Nothing will bring our son back, but we’re glad that the trial is finally starting and hope the criminal justice system will provide a measure of closure by bringing to justice the man responsible for Richard’s death to the fullest extent of the law.” The family also described in the statement the kind of person Collins was. “It’s been two and a half years since our son was brutally murdered days before his college graduation,” they said. “He’d just been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was devoted to a life of service to his country. Richard’s future was bright, and we couldn’t be prouder of all he accomplished over the course of his short life.”