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

[edit] 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 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 a 12-year-old half-Hispanic, half-white girl, 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 the victim 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]

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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.[13] 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."

[edit] Death

On the morning of July 1, 2007, Ritcheson committed suicide by jumping from the deck of the MS Ecstasy, a cruise ship bound for the Mexican resort island of Cozumel.[3][14] He was 18 years old. The Ritcheson family's attorney, Carlos Leon, confirmed his death.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Monica Rhor: Teenagers, Racism And a Brutal Attack, Washington Post, January 7, 2007
  2. ^ Marc Pitzke: Das lange Sterben des David Ritcheson, Der Spiegel, July 3, 2007
  3. ^ a b c d Murphy, Bill, Paige Hewitt and Jennifer Leahy. "Teen victim of Spring pipe attack dies after apparent jump from ship". Houston Chronicle, July 2, 2007.
  4. ^ Boy, 16, Near Death After Sexual Assault, Beating, Click2Houston, April 28, 2006
  5. ^ Mike Glenn & others: Details of brutal beating revealed, Houston Chronicle, April 28, 2006 (archive access requires registration
  6. ^ a b Paige Hewitt and Bill Murphy: Moving on, and trying to shed 'victim' label, Houston Chronicle, April 17, 2007
  7. ^ a b c d Stinebaker, Joe. "Teen's suicide puzzles friends". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou070708_tnt_ritchesonsuicide.55ce8813.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
  8. ^ a b AP: Night of torture leads to lives in prison and pain, The Dallas Morning News, December 31, 2006
  9. ^ a b AP: No hate crime charges after brutal attack, MSNBC, April 28, 2006
  10. ^ Hate Crime Victim Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee. ADL.org.
  11. ^ a b AP: Teen gets life for attack on Hispanic boy, November 17, 2006
  12. ^ AP: 2nd teen gets 90 years in brutal party attack, MSNBC, December 11, 2006
  13. ^ Paige Hewitt & others: Teen's leap from ship recounted by passengers, Houston Chronicle, July 3, 2007
  14. ^ 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. July 1, 2007

[edit] External links

Houston portal
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