2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault

Racially motivated crime in Texas, United States

The 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault was the beating, torture, and sexual assault of a Latino student, by two non-Latino white youths during the early morning of April 22, 2006, in an unincorporated section of Harris County, Texas, United States in Greater Houston. The details of the attack led to the publication of the story in various media outlets in and outside 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]

## The assault

[edit]

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,[4][5] 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 football team.[6][7]

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.[8] Sons' 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.[9]

Tuck and Turner dragged Ritcheson outside, stripped him naked, burned him with cigarettes, and attempted to engrave a swastika into Ritcheson's chest.[10] 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.[11] Ritcheson suffered from extensive injuries including a perforated bladder.[9] 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.[11]

## Aftermath

[edit]

### Conviction and legal punishment

[edit]

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][7][12]

In December 2006, Tuck and Turner were both convicted of aggravated sexual assault. Tuck, who was described by prosecutors as a white supremacist,[13] was sentenced to life in prison,[13] and Turner was sentenced to 90 years.[14] 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.[10]

As of 2015[update] 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.[15] As of 2015 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.[16]

### Hospitalization

[edit]

After a lengthy recovery, which included a three-month stint in the hospital and more than 12 surgeries,[10] Ritcheson refused professional counseling and never spoke about his experiences with his friends.[17] During an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Ritcheson stated:

> I shouldn't care what people think. But it's like everyone knows I'm 'the kid'. I don't want to be a standout because of what happened.[18]

### Death

[edit]

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][19] He was 18 years old. The Ritcheson family's attorney, Carlos Leon, confirmed his death.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Monica Rhor: Teenagers, Racism And a Brutal Attack, The Washington Post, January 7, 2007
2. ^ Marc Pitzke: Das lange Sterben des David Ritcheson Archived July 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Der Spiegel, July 3, 2007
3. ^ 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 December 8, 2021. Archived December 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ a b "Boy, 16, Near Death After Sexual Assault, Beating Archived August 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine." 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 pm, according to investigators." (the addresses are stated to establish the precise location of the crime in unincorporated Harris County)
5. ^ "2010 CENSUS – CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Spring CDP, TX" (Archive). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on November 14, 2015. The map is provided to show that the "2130 block of Glenbranch" is outside the CDP.
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ Stinebaker, Joe. "Teen's suicide puzzles friends". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
9. ^ a b AP: Night of torture leads to lives in prison and pain, The Dallas Morning News, December 31, 2006
10. ^ a b c Stinebaker, Joe (July 3, 2007). "Anti-hate law shifts to debate on gays". USA Today. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
11. ^ a b AP: No hate crime charges after brutal attack, NBC News, April 28, 2006
12. ^ Hate Crime Victim Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee Archived September 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. ADL.org.
13. ^ a b AP: Teen gets life for attack on Hispanic boy, MSNBC, November 17, 2006
14. ^ AP: 2nd teen gets 90 years in brutal party attack, MSNBC, December 11, 2006
15. ^ "Tuck, David Henry" (Archive) Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
16. ^ "Turner, Keith Robert" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
17. ^ Paige Hewitt & others: Teen's leap from ship recounted by passengers, Houston Chronicle, July 3, 2007
18. ^ Hewitt, Page; Murphy, Bill (April 17, 2007). "Teen wants stricter hate crime laws after attack". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 7, 2012. "Ritcheson has declined psychological counseling, relying on his parents and friends. He copes with the past, he said, "by not thinking about it." He knows the attack changed him fundamentally but says he has overcome the worst of it. "I'm reminded every day of how lucky I am," he said. Ritcheson hopes to graduate from Klein Collins and begin attending Blinn College or Austin Community School in about a year. He hopes to transfer to Texas A&M and study psychology or business."
19. ^ 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 am he was pronounced dead.""Cruise tragedy: Teen jumps ship."". Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2013-05-28. KHOU.com. Sunday July 1, 2007. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Texas portal
* Latino and Hispanic American portal
* Law portal

* Testimony given by David Ritcheson at the Wayback Machine (archived July 4, 2007) (Archive)
* Heart of Darkness by Mike Trent (Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, Texas), Texas District and County Attorneys Association, 2007.
* David Ritcheson at the Wayback Machine (archived July 2, 2011) – Human Rights Campaign (Archive)

* v
* t
* e

Spring, Texas

Areas

Places|

* Northampton

Education

Primary and secondary schools|

* Spring ISD
* Spring HS
* Klein ISD
* Klein Collins HS
* Klein Oak HS
* Conroe ISD
* Oak Ridge HS
* Frassati Catholic HS

Other education|

* Harris County Public Library
* Lone Star College

Other

Landmarks|

* Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown
* Houston Texas Temple

Services|

* Spring Fire Department

Events|

* Spring High School stabbing
* 2006 hate crime assault
* 2014 shooting

This list is incomplete.
This list includes items within or related to the U.S. Census Bureau-designed Spring census designated place (CDP) and places outside of the CDP with "Spring, Texas" postal addresses. Items within or related to areas outside of the CDP are italicized. This list does not include places without "Spring, Texas" postal addresses. The community college district has no locations with Spring, Texas addresses but is listed anyway since it broadly serves residents of the CDP and others with "Spring" addresses.
The public library has a location outside of the CDP and with a "Spring, Texas" address, Barbara Bush Branch Library, while the nearest library to the CDP is Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library at Mercer Park, which has an "Humble, Texas" address.

* v
* t
* e

Lynching in the United States

List of lynching victims in the United States

| Before 1900|

* Francis McIntosh (1836)
* Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1837)
* Josefa Segovia (1851)
* Pancho Daniel (1858)
* Joshua Boyd (1863)
* Henry Plummer (1864)
* Bill Sketoe (1864)
* Clubfoot George (1864)
* Steve Long, Ace and Con Moyer (1868)
* Wyatt Outlaw (1870)
* John W. Stephens (1870)
* Alexander Boyd (1870)
* Jim Williams (1871)
* David Jones (1872)
* Jo Reed (1875)
* Arthur St. Clair (1877)
* Michael Green (1878)
* Joseph Standing (1879)
* Big Nose George Parrott (1881)
* Charles Thurber (1882)
* John Wesley Heath (1884)
* Eliza Woods (1886)
* Samuel "Mingo Jack" Johnson (1886)
* Amos Miller (1888)
* Joseph Vermillion (1889)
* George Meadows (1889)
* Ellen Watson (1889)
* Brown Washington (1890)
* Jim Taylor (1891)
* Dick Lundy (1891)
* Joe Coe (1891)
* Robert Lewis (1892)
* Ephraim Grizzard (1892)
* Samuel J. Bush (1893)
* John Peterson (1893)
* Alfred Blount (1893)
* Henry Smith (1893)
* Richard Puryear (1894)
* Stephen Williams (1894)
* Amos Hicks (1894)
* Jacob Henson (1896)
* William Andrews (1897)
* Joseph H. McCoy (1897)
* John Anderson (1898)
* John Henry James (1898)
* F. W. Stewart (1898)
* Sam Hose (1899)
* Benjamin Thomas (1899)

|

1900–1940|

* Fred Rochelle (1901)
* Ballie Crutchfield (1901)
* George Ward (1901)
* Walker Davis (1903)
* J. D. Mayfield (1903)
* George White (1903)
* David Wyatt (1903)
* Marie Thompson (1904)
* Paul Reed and Will Cato (1904)
* Bunk Richardson (1906)
* Ed Johnson (1906)
* Slab Pitts (1906)
* William Burns (1907)
* Earnest Williams (1907)
* Leander Shaw (1908)
* Jim Miller (1909)
* James Hodges (1909)
* Matthew Chase (1909)
* "Mose" Creole (1909)
* "Pie" Hill (1909)
* William "Froggie" James and Henry Salzner (1909)
* Grant Richardson (1910)
* King Johnson (1911)
* Name unknown (TX) (1911)
* Laura and L. D. Nelson (1911)
* Will Porter (1911)
* Zachariah Walker (1911)
* Mary Jackson (1912)
* Rob Edwards (1912)
* George Saunders (1912)
* Robert Perry (1913)
* ? Anderson (1913)
* Charles Fisher (1914)
* John Evans (1914)
* Leo Frank (1915)
* Name unknown (MS) (1915)
* Jesse Washington (1916)
* Anthony Crawford (1916)
* Jeff Brown (1916)
* Paulo Boleta (1916)
* Frank Little (1917)
* Charles Jones (1917)
* Ell Persons (1917)
* Robert Prager (1918)
* Mary Turner and her unborn baby (1918)
* Hazel "Hayes" Turner (1918)
* George Taylor (1918)
* Jim McIlherron (1918)
* Olli Kinkkonen (1918)
* Wallace Baynes (1919)
* Will Brown (1919)
* Wesley Everest (1919)
* John Hartfield (1919)
* Jay Lynch (1919)
* Berry Washington (1919)
* Willie Baird (1920)
* Roy Belton (1920)
* Dick Rowland (attempted) (1921)
* Henry Lowry (1921)
* Jake Brooks (1922)
* James Harvey and Joe Jordan (1922)
* Joe Pullen (1923)
* Samuel Smith (1924)
* L. Q. Ivy (1925)
* Raymond Byrd (1926)
* James Clark (1926)
* Fred N. Selak (1926)
* Tom Payne (1927)
* John Carter (1927)
* Dan Anderson (1927)
* Will Sherod (1927)
* Bernice Raspberry (1927)
* Owen Flemming (1927)
* Joseph Upchurch (1927)
* Joe Smith (1927)
* Albert Williams (1927)
* Thomas Bradshaw (1927)
* Winston Pounds (1927)
* Thomas Williams (1927)
* Henry Choate (1927)
* Leonard Woods (1927)
* J. C. Collins (1928)
* George Hughes (1930)
* James Cameron (1930)
* Lynching of Raymond Gunn (1931)
* Matthew Williams (1931)
* Shedrick Thompson (1932)
* George Armwood (1933)
* Cordie Cheek (1933)
* Claude Neal (1934)
* Austin Callaway (1940)
* Elbert Williams (1940)

After 1940|

* Felix Hall (1941)
* Johannes Kunze (1943)
* Robert "Bobbie" Hall (1943)
* Willie James Howard (1944)
* John Cecil Jones (1946)
* Willie Earle (1947)
* Lamar Smith (1955)
* George W. Lee (1955)
* Emmett Till (1955)
* Judge Edward Aaron (1957)
* Willie Edwards (1957)
* Mack Charles Parker (1959)
* Louis Allen (1964)
* Lemuel Penn (1964)
* Frank Morris (1964)
* James Reeb (1965)
* Vernon Dahmer (1966)
* Wharlest Jackson (1967)
* Carol Jenkins (1968)
* Henry Marrow (1970)
* Marian Pyszko (1975)
* Betty Gardner (1978)
* Arthur McDuffie (1979)
* Michael Donald (1981)
* Yusef Hawkins (1989)
* James Byrd Jr. (1998)
* James Craig Anderson (2011)
* Ahmaud Arbery (2020)

Multiple victims

* Death of Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith) (1844)
* Marais des Cygnes, KS, massacre (1858)
* Great Hanging at Gainesville, TX (1862)
* New York City draft riots (1863)
* Detroit race riot (1863)
* ? Lachenais and four others (1863)
* Fort Pillow, TN, massacre (1864)
* Plummer Gang (1864)
* Memphis massacre (1866)
* Gallatin County, KY, race riot (1866)
* New Orleans massacre of 1866
* Reno Brothers Gang (1868)
* Camilla, GA, massacre (1868)
* Steve Long and two half-brothers (1868)
* Pulaski, TN, riot (1868)
* Samuel Bierfield and Lawrence Bowman (1868)
* Opelousas, LA, massacre (1868)
* Bear River City riot (1868)
* Chinese massacre of 1871
* Meridian, MS, race riot (1871)
* Colfax, LA, massacre (1873)
* Election riot of 1874 (AL)
* Juan, Antonio, and Marcelo Moya (1874)
* Benjamin and Mollie French (1876)
* Ellenton, SC, riot (1876)
* Hamburg, SC, massacre (1876)
* Thibodeax, LA, massacre (1878)
* Mart and Tom Horrell (1878)
* Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer (1879)
* Elijah Frost, Abijah Gibson, Tom McCracken (1879)
* T.J. House, James West, John Dorsey (1880)
* New Orleans 1891 lynchings (1891)
* Ruggles Brothers (CA) (1892)
* Thomas Moss, Henry Stewart, Calvin McDowell (TN) (1892)
* Porter and Spencer (MS) (1897)
* Phoenix, SC, election riot (1898)
* Wilmington, NC, insurrection (1898)
* Julia and Frazier Baker (1898)
* Pana, IL, riot (1899)
* Watkinsville lynching (1905)
* 1906 Atlanta race massacre
* Kemper County, MS (1906)
* Walker family (1908)
* Springfield race riot of 1908
* Slocum, TX, massacre (1910)
* Laura and L.D. Nelson (1911)
* Harris County, GA, lynchings (1912)
* Newberry, FL, lynchings (1916)
* East St. Louis, IL, riots (1917)
* Lynching rampage in Brooks County, GA (1918)
* Jenkins County, GA, riot (1919)
* Longview, TX, race riot (1919)
* Elaine, AR, race riot (1919)
* Omaha race riot of 1919
* Knoxville riot of 1919
* Red Summer (1919)
* Duluth, MN, lynchings (1920)
* Ocoee, FL, massacre (1920)
* Tulsa race massacre (1921)
* Perry, FL, race riot (1922)
* Rosewood, FL, massacre (1923)
* Jim and Mark Fox (1927)
* Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith (1930)
* Tate County, MS (1932)
* Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes (1933)
* Roosevelt Townes and Robert McDaniels (1937)
* Beaumont, TX, Race Riot (1943)
* O'Day Short, wife, and two children (1945)
* Moore's Ford, GA, lynchings (1946)
* Harry and Harriette Moore (1952)
* Anniston, AL (1961)
* Freedom Summer Murders (James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner) (1964)
* Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore (1964)

| General|

* Lynching
* Indiana White Caps
* Jim Crow laws
* Ku Klux Klan
* Nadir of American race relations
* Red Shirts
* Italians
* Jews
* Women

|

Anti-lynching movement|

* American anti-lynching activists
* American Crusade Against Lynching
* Jessie Daniel Ames
* Martin C. Ansorge
* Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching
* Flossie Bailey
* William O'Connell Bradley
* Ella Barksdale Brown
* Father Divine
* "Flag Salute"
* N.A.A.C.P.
* National Conference on Lynching
* Paul Robeson
* "Strange Fruit"
* Ida B. Wells

| Legislation|

* Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
* Costigan-Wagner Bill
* Justice for Victims of Lynching Act
* Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act
* Emmett Till Antilynching Act

|

Defenders of lynching|

* Theodore G. Bilbo
* Cole L. Blease
* Julian S. Carr
* Sidney Johnston Catts
* Thomas Dixon Jr.
* Rebecca Latimer Felton
* John Temple Graves
* John Trotwood Moore
* John T. Morgan
* James Rolph
* Goodloe Sutton
* Benjamin Tillman
* James K. Vardaman
* Thomas E. Watson

Memory|

* America's Black Holocaust Museum
* Civil Rights Memorial
* The Legacy Museum
* National Memorial for Peace and Justice
* National Museum of African American History and Culture
* Southern Poverty Law Center

Related articles|

* James Allen (collector)
* "And you are lynching Negroes"
* Attack on John Shillady
* Battle of Liberty Place
* The Birth of a Nation
* The Clansman
* Deaths in police custody
* Fury (1936 film)
* Hang 'Em High
* Lynching postcard
* Mississippi Burning
* Mississippi Cold Case
* Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson (1965)
* The Ox-Bow Incident
* Parade (musical)
* Reconstruction era
* Red Summer
* Scottsboro Boys
* Silent Parade
* Stone Mountain
* Summer in Mississippi
* Sundown town (list)
* They Won't Forget
* "The United States of Lyncherdom" (Twain)
* United States v. Shipp
* Vendetta (1999 film)
* Wilmington insurrection of 1898

Categories|

* Lynching in the United States
* Lynching deaths in the United States

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template