Mar 03, 2015 10:13 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Durham County District Attorney Roger Echols will be seeking the death penalty for Craig Stephen Hicks, but the key will be proving what he did was a hate crime.

Hicks, 46, has been indicted on three counts of first-degree murder after he shot and killed three college students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Police are still trying to determine if Hicks was angry over a parking spot or if he committed the triple slaying out of hatred for the three young Muslims.

According to WNCN, Echols filed court documents Feb. 25 indicated he will seek the death penalty for Hicks, who was scheduled to be in court Monday, but the hearing was continued.

Slain in the incident was Deah Barakat, 23; his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister Razan, 19. Mohammad Abu-Salha, the two sisters' father, told the Raleigh News and Observer shortly after the incident that Razan had expressed concern over Hicks in the past, describing him as "a hateful neighbor."

But Karen Hicks, Craig's wife who is reportedly seeking a divorce, told CNN around the same time the shooting was over a parking spot. Hicks has a history of enforcing the apartment complex's parking rules himself, like frequently calling the towing company when someone's car is out of place.

As the New York Times reported, police still do not appear to have evidence solid enough to support either motive. Robert N. Maitland II, Karen Hicks' lawyer, bluntly told the newspaper as much.

"Here's the thing: Nobody knows," he said. "Why did he lose it that particular day?"

It is undeniable that Hicks' was obsessed with parking, but the police are trying to figure out what drove him to violence. Shortly after the shooting, WNCN noted, the local police asked the FBI to help in determining if the shooting was a hate crime.

Most notably among the evidence in support is Hicks' online activity. On Facebook, he posts about atheism, mocks organized religion and subscribes to such pages. But that is his free speech.

As it stands, Echols can pursue the death penalty, but current legislation to resume executions in North Carolina has not yet passed.

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