As expected, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks will pursue the maximum penalty — a life sentence without parole — against 23-year-old Severna Park native Sean Urbanski in the murder of a Bowie State University student.

Urbanski was indicted in July on one count of common law murder following a May 20 stabbing attack at a bus stop on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. That attack killed 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Richard Wilbur Collins III.

The common law murder charge covers both first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

“The reason the state’s attorney made this (sentencing) decision was that this was an unprovoked attack,” said John Erzen, a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office. “This was someone, who for no apparent reason, walked up to another person and stabbed him in the chest. (Alsobrooks) feels this deserves the harshest possible penalty if Mr. Urbanski is convicted of first-degree murder.”

William C. Brennan Jr., the attorney for Urbanski, was not immediately available for comment. Urbanski has been held without bond since his arrest.

Alsobrooks had initially indicated that she would pursue the maximum penalty, and an official statement of intent was filed earlier this week.

Collins, a Bowie State student, was visiting friends on campus when he encountered Urbanski at the bus stop on campus at about 3 a.m. May 20. Urbanski allegedly stabbed Collins after demanding that he “step left, step left if you know what’s good for you.”

Collins and his friends looked at Urbanski, puzzled, police said, and Collins told him “no.”

At that point, Urbanski allegedly stabbed Collins in his chest, police said.

Police said after the arrest that the FBI was investigating the possibility of hate-bias as a motive, a move prompted by Urbanski’s connections to a Facebook group called “Alt-Reich,” which posted language and viewpoints police described as racist.

Both the FBI and the state’s attorney’s office are conducting an investigation to determine if the incident qualifies as a hate crime under either federal or state law — or both. The state’s attorney’s office expects to make an announcement on the results of those investigations in the next month or so.

The maximum penalty for a state hate crime conviction is five years, Erzen said.

“I would hope that by the time we get to the end of September, we would be able to make an announcement (on the hate crime charge) one way or the other, but it’s not all in our hands,” he said.

Collins, of Calvert County, was scheduled to graduate with a degree in business from Bowie State just days after the stabbing, and was commissioned in the Army a few weeks earlier. He was a member of the Bowie State ROTC program.

His family accepted his degree at the commencement ceremony, and a black gown was draped across a chair in the front row in Collins’ honor.

Students, faculty and staff members at both Bowie State and University of Maryland paused Wednesday to remember Collins. The Bowie State community observed a moment of silence at 12:05 p.m., while a similar ceremony took place in College Park at the same time.

“For the University of Maryland, this observance will launch a year of campus-wide actions, dialogues, and healing that will involve our students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” university President Wallace Loh wrote in an online post addressed to the campus community.

“We are resolved to combat the spreading scourge of racism, hate, and violence. We are determined to wrest from tragedy the necessary changes to our campus climate and culture so that we embody more fully the values that we stand for.”