Upper Marlboro, MD – A Calvert County resident who was recently commissioned as an Army officer and was set to graduate earlier this week was eulogized by several speakers at services held Friday, May 26 in Upper Marlboro. Richard W. Collins III, 23 of Owings, was stabbed to death early Saturday morning on the campus of the University of Maryland College Park. Collins was to receive his degree from Bowie State University. He had been visiting friends at the College Park campus. Collins and two others were standing at a bus stop on Regents Drive near Montgomery Hall shortly after 3 a.m. when they were confronted by a knife-wielding man. According to court documents, the man with the knife—later identified as Sean Christopher Urbanski, 22 of Severna Park—reportedly said to Collins, “step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.” Collins replied, “no.” He was then stabbed in the chest. Collins was rushed to a local hospital where he later died.
Urbanski was subsequently arrested and remains in jail on a no bond status. According to court records, Urbanski is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree assault. A preliminary hearing on the charges is tentatively scheduled for June 15 in Upper Marlboro. Investigators from Prince George’s County, University of Maryland campus security and the FBI are involved in the case. Federal investigators are trying to determine if Urbanski should face charges of committing a hate crime.
“He fought a war against hate,” Dr. Artie Travis of Bowie State University told the large gathering at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. Travis thanked Collins’ family and University of Maryland officials “for your solidarity in our grief at the loss of an angel.”
During the Tuesday, May 23 meeting of the Calvert County Commissioners, board President Tom Hejl noted Collins had been a part-time county government employee, working several years at Chesapeake Hills Golf Club. Hejl called Collins’ death “a senseless and unprovoked assault.”
Collins’ burial will be private. Funeral arrangements were handled by Sewell Funeral Home of Prince Frederick.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com