Maryland man indicted for hate crime in college student's slaying
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A Maryland prosecutor says a man has been indicted on a hate crime charge for allegedly stabbing a college student to death "because of his race."
Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks announced a grand jury indictment against Sean Urbanski on Tuesday. Richard Collins III was stabbed to death on May 20 at the University of Maryland, days before he was set to graduate from Bowie State University.
Collins was black. Urbanski is white.
Alsobrooks says authorities analyzed "lots and lots of digital evidence," including evidence from a phone. She says prosecutors are comfortable they brought enough evidence justifying the hate crime charge.
Urbanski became a member of a racist Facebook group several months before the stabbing, reports CBS affiliate WUSA9.
Alsobrooks says prosecutors took the time they felt necessary to investigate all of the evidence.
Urbanski has been held on a murder charge since the stabbing.
CBS News confirms Urbanski faces a maximum penalty of life without parole on the murder charge and an additional 20 years on the new charge of hate crime resulting in death.
His trial is set to begin in mid-January 2018.
When he was killed, Collins was preparing to receive his diploma from Bowie State University and serve his country. He completed his ROTC training and had been recently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, where he expected to join the intelligence division.
