Attack survivor dies in cruise ship jump

A teenager who survived a brutal beating and later testified before Congress in support of a hate crimes bill died after jumping from a cruise ship into the Gulf of Mexico, his father said Monday.

David Ritcheson, 18, was pronounced dead Sunday after being pulled aboard the Ecstasy, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship en route to Cozumel, Mexico, from Galveston.

A man at Ritcheson's home who identified himself as the teens' father confirmed the death to The Associated Press. He declined to give his name or comment further, saying the family would issue a statement later.

Ritcheson, a Mexican-American, was beaten unconscious and sodomized with the plastic pole of a patio umbrella by two men shouting "White Power!" during a drug-fueled party in April 2006. He also was stomped and burned with cigarettes, and his attackers poured bleach on him before leaving him for dead.

He was hospitalized for more than three months and endured 20 to 30 operations.

The small, quiet youth once lamented being known as "that kid" who survived the party attack. He rarely discussed his feelings and declined to get counseling, said Mike Trent, the prosecutor who handled Ritcheson's case. But Trent said Ritcheson always seemed positive and upbeat about his recovery.

"He certainly wanted to see justice done in the case and wanted his attackers punished, but I thought that _ considering everything that had happened to him _ he had come through things remarkably well," Trent said.

He said Ritcheson had used drugs before the attack but realized that played a role in his assault and promised to quit. According to testimony, the attack was triggered by Ritcheson's drunken pass at another teen's 12-year-old sister.

"It's just very tragic because I thought he had turned a corner and was trying his best to make something positive out of what happened to him," Trent said. "He thought that he could handle everything on his own."

A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines said several witnesses saw Ritcheson jump from an upper deck of the ship Sunday morning. Officials aboard the Ecstasy notified the Coast Guard before recovering Ritcheson's body.

Although he remembered nothing of the four-hour attack, Ritcheson testified about it during congressional hearings in April on a hate-crimes bill. That bill passed the House of Representatives and is pending in a Senate committee.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said she hopes to have the measure formally named "David's Bill" in honor of Ritcheson.

"I could not have been more moved by his commitment to getting things right," Jackson Lee said Monday. "He was able to dig deep over all of the pain and all the humiliation and try to be of help to someone else."

The Anti-Defamation League was one of several civil rights groups that organized Ritcheson's testimony.

"Our hearts go out to his family and friends, who already have endured so much pain as the result of the brutal and hateful attack on David in 2006," the ADL said in a statement Monday. "We pray the same strength, courage and dignity they displayed after David's attack will help them make it through this very difficult time, and we send our condolences."

Two men were convicted of aggravated sexual assault in the attack. David Henry Tuck, then 18, was sentenced to life in prison. Keith Robert Turner, then 17, was sentenced to 90 years in prison. Both must serve at least 30 years before being eligible for parole.

Ritcheson, Tuck, Turner and two other teens were partying at a suburban home at the time of the attack, drinking and taking cocaine and Xanax.