- 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault
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The 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault refers to the beating, torture, and sexual assault of a Latino student, by two white youths during the early morning of April 22, 2006, in an unincorporated section of Harris County, Texas, United States. The details of the attack lead to publication of the story in various media outlets in and outside of the United States.[1][2] The victim of the assault, whose identity was not made public until months after the attack, committed suicide a year after the incident.[3]
Contents
The assault
David Ritcheson, the victim of the attack
The incident occurred at a residence located north of the city of Houston, with a Spring, Texas address, at a party held at the Sons family home. Two Klein Collins High School students, David Henry Tuck, then 18, and Keith Robert Turner, then 17,[4] beat, tortured, and sodomized David Ritcheson, a 16-year old fellow Klein Collins student and former running back for the school's American football team.[5][6]
Tuck and Turner, who were both under the influence of recreational drugs, said they were told that Ritcheson, also under the influence of drugs, tried to kiss 12-year-old Danielle Sons.[7] Sons's statement threw Tuck into a rage, and Tuck punched Ritcheson. The first punch was so powerful it broke Ritcheson's cheekbone and knocked him unconscious, stated Dr. Red Duke, the emergency physician who treated him.[8]
Tuck and Turner dragged Ritcheson outside, stripped him naked, burned him with cigarettes, and attempted to engrave a swastika into Ritcheson's chest.[7] Tuck kicked Ritcheson with steel-toed boots and forced the pointed end of a PVC patio umbrella pole up his rectum several inches while yelling racial slurs. After the sodomy ended, the perpetrators poured bleach on the victim's body to conceal the evidence of the crime. The attack lasted five hours. Ritcheson was left lying behind the house for more than 10 hours before he was found and an ambulance was called.[9] Ritcheson suffered from extensive injuries including a perforated bladder.[8] The night after the assault, Ritcheson's lungs failed, and he was placed on a ventilator. According to Harris County prosecutor Mike Trent, the attackers may have poured bleach inside the pipe as high levels of toxins were found in Ritcheson's organs.[9]
Aftermath
Conviction and legal punishment
After being contacted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and agreeing to make his name public, Ritcheson went to Washington, D.C., and on April 17, 2007, testified to the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee about passing more stringent hate crime laws.[3][6][10]
In December 2006, Tuck and Turner were both convicted of aggravated sexual assault. Tuck, who was described by prosecutors as a white supremacist,[11] was sentenced to life in prison,[11] and Turner was sentenced to 90 years.[12] Turner unsuccessfully appealed his conviction to the 14th Court of Appeals for the State of Texas. On March 20, 2008, the Court of Appeals issued its opinion affirming Turner's conviction. Both Tuck and Turner must serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.[7]
As of 2010 Tuck is incarcerated at the Ramsey Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and has the TDCJ ID 01403389. His parole eligibility date is April 22, 2036.[13] As of 2010 Turner is incarcerated at the Wallace Pack Unit and has the TDCJ ID 01404515. Turner's parole eligibility date is April 24, 2036, and his tentative release date is April 24, 2096.[14]
Hospitalization
After a lengthy recovery, which included a three-month stint in the hospital and more than 12 surgeries,[7] Ritcheson refused professional counseling and never spoke about his experiences to his friends.[15] During an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Ritcheson stated:
"I shouldn't care what people think or say. It's just the fact that everyone knows I'm the kid. It was bigger than Houston. It was bigger than Texas. It was bigger than America. Everybody in the world knew what had happened and everybody knew the details of it."
Death
On the morning of July 1, 2007, Ritcheson committed suicide by jumping from the deck of the Carnival Ecstasy, a cruise ship bound for the Mexican resort island of Cozumel.[3][16] He was 18 years old. The Ritcheson family's attorney, Carlos Leon, confirmed his death.[3]
References
- ^ Monica Rhor: Teenagers, Racism And a Brutal Attack, Washington Post, January 7, 2007
- ^ Marc Pitzke: Das lange Sterben des David Ritcheson, Der Spiegel, July 3, 2007
- ^ a b c d Murphy, Bill, Paige Hewitt, Jennifer Leahy, and Cynthia Leonor Garza. "Teen victim of Spring pipe attack dies after apparent jump from ship / LULAC official says family told the 18-year-old went overboard on Carnival cruise." Houston Chronicle. Monday July 2, 2007. A1. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ^ "Boy, 16, Near Death After Sexual Assault, Beating." Click2Houston, April 28, 2006. Retrieved on July 22, 2010. "David Tuck, 18, and Keith Turner, 17, were outside a house party in the 21000 block of Glen Branch in Spring when they attacked the 16-year-old on Saturday at about 11:30 p.m., according to investigators."
- ^ Glenn, Mike, Peggy O'Hare, Zeke Minaya, and Kimberley Stauffer. "Details of brutal beating revealed." Houston Chronicle. Friday April 28, 2006. A1. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ^ a b Hewitt, Paige and Bill Murphy. "Moving on, and trying to shed 'victim' label." Houston Chronicle. April 17, 2007. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Stinebaker, Joe. "Teen's suicide puzzles friends". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 2008-02-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20080214131424/http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou070708_tnt_ritchesonsuicide.55ce8813.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ a b AP: Night of torture leads to lives in prison and pain, The Dallas Morning News, December 31, 2006
- ^ a b AP: No hate crime charges after brutal attack, MSNBC, April 28, 2006
- ^ Hate Crime Victim Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee. ADL.org.
- ^ a b AP: Teen gets life for attack on Hispanic boy, November 17, 2006
- ^ AP: 2nd teen gets 90 years in brutal party attack, MSNBC, December 11, 2006
- ^ "Tuck, David Henry." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 5, 2010. Enter the SID "06716680"
- ^ "Turner, Keith Robert." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 5, 2010. Enter the SID "07527605"
- ^ Paige Hewitt & others: Teen's leap from ship recounted by passengers, Houston Chronicle, July 3, 2007
- ^ Witnesses say that just after sunrise David climbed a mast near the bow of the ship. Crew members and friends thought they had persuaded him but instead he jumped. The ship went back and pulled him from the water then at 9:10 A.M. he was pronounced dead. "Cruise tragedy: Teen jumps ship." KHOU.com. Sunday July 1, 2007. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
External links
Categories:- 2006 crimes in the United States
- Harris County, Texas
- Crime in Texas
- Racially motivated violence in the United States
- 2006 in Texas
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