NEWARK, N.J. - Authorities obtained an arrest warrant Monday for a man who they believe fatally stabbed a teenager early Sunday after she and her friends rebuffed his advances and said they were lesbians.

Richard McCullough, 29, of Newark, faces murder and weapons charges, said Lt. Derek Glenn, a spokesman for the Newark Police Department. He also faces bias intimidation charges because authorities determined that the teenager's sexual orientation played a role in the killing.

McCullough was identified by witnesses, Glenn said. His telephone number was not listed.

A second man also was questioned by police but has not been charged. Glenn said the man, whose name was not released, was with McCullough when the two drove up to the victim, Sakia Gunn, 15, and four other teenage girls around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. The teenagers were waiting for a bus in Newark after a night out in Greenwich Village, Glenn said.

"We're trying to determine what his role was in the incident," Glenn said of the second man.

Gunn was stabbed in the chest and died a short time later at University Hospital in Newark, authorities said.

The two men fled in a white station wagon, which Glenn said was recovered in East Orange.

Gay rights advocates said they were more saddened than surprised by the killing.

"We do know that, unfortunately, visibility can bring danger to us, but we also know that the alternative is unacceptable," said Clarence Patton, executive director of the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.