One of the key issues in the Maryland murder trial of Sean Urbanski was whether he was too drunk to form the intent needed to commit first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III.
Prince George’s County prosecutors have released the video evidence jurors saw in convicting Urbanski of premeditated murder in the May 20, 2017 death of Collins, who was visiting friends on the College Park campus of University of Maryland. Collins, a Bowie State University student, was days away from graduating and had just been commissioned as an Army officer when he was killed.
Police body camera video, provided by the county’s state’s attorney’s office, depicts Urbanski being brought to the campus police station, approximately an hour after stabbing Collins at a bus stop.
As soon as the officer opens the door for Urbanski, the 24-year-old Severna Park man blurts out, “I don’t know what’s going on.”
Rather than discuss with Urbanski that he had (at the time allegedly) stabbed and killed a man, the officer told Urbanski, “someone will come and talk with you.”
The defense said Urbanski was three-times the legal limit for alcohol at the time of the stabbing, and that he was unaware of what he had done.
At one point Urbanski slurred his words to the officer: “I’m confused as s—, I really am.”
However, prosecutors pointed out Urbanski was able to follow the officer’s detailed commands, including a sequence in which he would place his hands on his head in a particular order.
“Left, then right,” Urbanski repeated. “OK.”
After getting the case, it took jurors two hours of deliberation to convict Urbanski of first-degree murder, rejecting the defense’s argument for second-degree murder, based on Urbanski’s intoxication.
Urbanski will be sentenced April 16, 2020. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said prosecutors will seek a sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole.
