Murder trial to start after Army lieutenant stabbed to death for refusing to 'step left'

Jury selection begins in a trial to decide whether a white man accused of walking up to a black second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and stabbing him on the U MD campus committed a hate crime. Richard Collins III was visiting the MD campus waiting at a bus stop with two friends when Sean Urbanski approached him at about 3 AM May 20, 2017.

“Step left if you know what’s best for you,” Urbanski told the group, according to petitioners. Collins refused just before a knife was forced into his chest. He died just three days before he was set to graduate  from Bowie State. ”An empty seat, draped with his graduation gown, sat in the arena to honor him throughout the commencement ceremony."

Although the FBI reportedly concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to recommend a federal hate crime prosecution against Urbanski, local prosecutors are pointing to extensive evidence to the contrary.