UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A prosecutor says racist memes poisoned the mind of Sean Urbanski, motivating the white man to fatally stab a black college student on the University of Maryland's campus.
Urbanski doesn't deny stabbing Richard Collins III that night in May 2017, but one of his lawyers says he was very drunk and there is no evidence that race was his motive.
Jurors heard those dueling explanations for the stabbing during Wednesday's opening statements in Urbanski's trial. He is charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime.
If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
