HOUSTON — 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 yesterday.

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 teenager’s 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 Mr. Trent said Ritcheson always seemed positive and upbeat about his recovery.