Lt. Richard Collins III Honored By University of Maryland After He Was Murdered On Campus
In May 2017, Lt. Richard Collins III, 23, was murdered by a man fueled by hate at the University of Maryland College Park campus. Seven years after his death, Collins is being honored.
According to WJZ-TV, on Monday (May 16), a plaza was named in honor of Lt. Richard Collins III on the campus where he was murdered.
During the dedication ceremony, Collins' father, Richard Collins III, said, “Every time that you check a man for something that is wrong you add to your stock of moral courage. Do not think you can dodge the little issues, the little everyday things of duty, and then when the great test comes, you will be alright. You won’t because you will have undermined the foundation. That is the courage that makes him do what’s right because he believes it to be right.”
See the video below of the ceremony:
Around 3 a.m. on a Saturday morning in May 2017, Collins, a Black senior at Bowie State, waited with two friends for an Uber on the UMD campus, according to court documents. As they stood at a shuttle stop waiting for their car, they saw Urbanski rapidly approaching, the court records said.
According to the court records, “Urbanski said, ‘Step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.’ Collins III said, ‘No’ as Urbanski continued to approach.”
One of Collins’s friends realized Urbanski was holding a 3 to 4-inch blade as he drove the blade into Collins’s chest, documents said. Collins’s friends phoned 911 and waited for authorities to arrive. Collins was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Urbanski was taken into custody by the UMC police department.
Sean Christopher Urbanski, 22, was charged and convicted with first-degree murder for killing Collins, reported the Baltimore Sun. Although the attack was not at first thought to be racially motivated, authorities discovered Urbanski is a member of the white supremacist Facebook group, “Alt-Reich: Nation,” reported NBCWashington.com.
Collins was supposed to graduate from Bowie State that month. He was recently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
