Teen accused of beating and sodomizing teen speaks to Eyewitness News

(5/03/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- It was a brutal attack on a local Hispanic teen that shocked the nation. And now, one of the accused attackers is talking exclusively to Eyewitness News about that night.

It's the first time David Henry Tuck has spoken with the media since he and a friend were charged with brutally beating and sodomizing a 16-year-old boy. Keith Turner didn't want to talk to us, but Tuck did. He blames what happened on all the drugs he took that night.

From behind bars at the Harris County Jail, Tuck is remorseful and even emotional. Our visit was on the seventh floor. With his hands cuffed behind his back, he shed two tears.

"I'm sitting here crying, worried about my mother, that she's going to be harmed," he told us.

The 18-year-old knows what he's accused of is heinous. Investigators say in a backyard in Spring, he and Turner not only beat a 17-year-old boy nearly to death, but also sodomized him with a plastic pipe and all because the Hispanic victim kissed a 12-year-old girl.

But that's not the story Tuck tells. He says by the time he and his friends got to the house, he was drunk from vodka and high from Xanax, cocaine and marijuana. He had heard the 12-year-old girl had been raped, not just kissed. So he and Turner attacked.

"When you tell people who are on drugs something like that (the rape), you're going to fight," said Tuck.

He goes on to say, "Xanax to me is like a demon. It takes control of me."

Tuck claims the 12-year-old girl was responsible for the sodomy and soon after, he blacked out.

Activists want the crime classified as one motivated by hate. Tuck and Turner are accused of hurling racial slurs during the beating and neighbors claim swastika flags have flown at Tuck's home.

But he says he's given up his old life as a neo-Nazi. Now he says he doesn't hate anyone.

"I just respect who respects me," said Tuck. "The only time I'm against someone is when they screw me over or my family."

Tuck and Turner each face aggravated sexual assault charges. They're being held without bond in the Harris County Jail. Their next court appearance is set for May 31.

Praying for the victim

In a show of support for the victim, the community came together Tuesday night for a prayer vigil. They met at the Faith Bridge Church in Spring to pray for his recovery. When the victim went to the hospital last week, he was in extremely critical condition. It's unknown how he's doing now.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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