Ship carrying David Ritcheson's remains docks in Galveston

(7/05/07 - KTRK/GALVESTON, TX) (KTRK) -- The death of David Ritcheson, the teen who survived a brutal attack last year only to jump off a cruise ship to his death this weekend, has been ruled a suicide. That's according to the Galveston County medical examiner.

It was early this morning when Ritcheson's body was taken from the cruise ship Ecstasy, which docked in Galveston around 7am. The passengers knew of his death, but didn't know the teen's body was still on board.

"We heard stories about how he had been taken off in Cozumel and all this and this morning, we looked over the ship and we saw his body being removed," said passenger Catherine Manley.

"They came over the intercom with a 'Bravo, Bravo' kind of message and so we were in a room that had a veranda and went out and looked and saw the rescue boat circling around and they had pulled a body in," said passenger Katie Grey.

Passengers say little information was given to them about his death or who he was. They only heard rumors.

"I heard about the past and what he'd gone through," said passenger Patrick Manley. "It was tragic. We just figured out this morning what happened."

Ritcheson was 17 years old when he was attacked and sodomized by two other teens using a pipe. They yelled racial slurs at him. Friends thought he was starting to heal from the physical and emotional wounds and he had even campaigned for tougher hate crime laws on the national level. But the wounds may have been deeper than they thought.

"They had no right doing that to that child," said Manley. "He's a kid. He had so much life."

FBI agents were aboard the ship this morning collecting evidence from his room, which had been sealed off since his death.

Ritcheson was alive to see justice served as the men who beat him within inches of his life were convicted for that crime. David Tuck is now serving a life sentence. Keith turner was sentenced to 90 years.

Local lawmakers and victims' rights advocates are now encouraging the senate and the president to pass tougher hate crime legislation. Ritcheson himself fought for the legislation after his attack. Bill 1592 would clear some of the legal red tape prosecutors face when filing hate crime charges. The bill has passed the House and is currently under the review of the Senate judiciary committee. President Bush has threatened a veto. If the bill is passed, there's a move to have it named 'David's Law.'
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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