The father of Richard Collins III, a black Bowie State University student killed in a possible hate crime, emotionally accepted his son’s degree just three days after he was killed.
Richard Collins III, a 23-year-old US Army lieutenant, was fatally stabbed at around 3:00 A.M. on Saturday, May 20, while visiting the neighboring University of Maryland.
Collins was waiting for an Uber with two friends on the College Park campus. The group was standing near a bus stop on Regents Drive by Montgomery Hall when the victim was stabbed in the chest with a folding knife, police said. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Collins was remembered on Tuesday at Bowie State University’s commencement, where he was meant to graduate with a degree in business.
https://twitter.com/ABC7Hughes/status/866343464849600512
Via Daily Mail:
A moment of silence was held in the slain student’s honor and his graduation gown was draped over front row chairs at the ceremony. His father Richard Collins Jr. took to the stage at the commencement and accepted his son’s degree on his behalf to large cheers from the crowd.
The ceremony was held at the neighboring university’s College Park campus – the same place Collins was visiting when he was killed.
University of Maryland physics professor Charles Clark dressed in his academic regalia and carried a sign honoring Collins as he greeted Bowie State graduates and faculty at the ceremony on Tuesday.
Collins was commissioned to join the Army through the school’s ROTC program earlier this week.
Sean Christopher Urbanski, the 22-year-old University of Maryland student who stabbed Collins, was charged with first and second-degree murder as well as first-degree assault for the alleged attack.
Urbanski, who was not scheduled to graduate this year, is being held without bail. His first hearing is scheduled for June 15.
[protected-iframe id=”c7e3ca305050f4534a3b809d42e237e3-3508545-91726680″ info=”http://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/1470105.html” width=”698″ height=”573″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen=””]
