Family mourns man fatally beaten on street

Before he left Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, Johnnie Morgan had family members hold a telephone up to his little brother’s ear as he lay unconscious at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.

Morgan and his son, J.C., told 39-year-old Richard Gregory Morgan their final goodbyes before Johnnie jumped on an airplane for Spokane, hoping to see his brother one last time before doctors released him from the machines that were keeping him alive.

“I told him that I loved him and that I’d miss him and at least he will be able to be with my mom,” Johnnie Morgan said. “I told him my kids will always remember the role he played in their lives.”

Johnnie Morgan, 46, never got to express his feelings in person. Richard Gregory Morgan, known to his family and most friends as “Uncle Rick” died at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday as Johnnie was catching a connecting flight in Seattle.

“I didn’t make it,” Johnnie said.

Richard Morgan was found unconscious Sept. 15 on the sidewalk at the corner of Second Avenue and Madison Street. Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam said Morgan apparently was the victim of a severe beating that knocked him to the pavement.

Morgan said investigators have told the family that his brother apparently was sticking up for a woman when he suffered the beating that crushed the back of his skull.

“It’s just like my brother to go defend somebody,” Morgan said.

Cottam said that detectives may have a suspect in the case, but they have released no more details. They continue to seek any witnesses who were at that intersection, which would have been busy with morning commuters.

Cottam said in several press releases that Richard Morgan was a transient. But the victim’s sister, Lisa Morgan, said that while her brother apparently told officers in the past that he was a transient, he had been living in Trentwood since 1989; the address was on his driver’s license.

“Ricky was a great guy. This is just really hard,” she said. “What makes it more difficult is that we lost our mom six months ago today. We feel like we were just down there making funeral arrangements.”

An autopsy was under way Tuesday but the results of that examination were not expected until today.

Morgan’s nephew, Ricky Ruiz, said the family is putting its trust in investigators to solve the case.

“We are laying total trust in the Spokane Police Department to handle the situation,” said Ruiz, 27. “We in no way would want to interrupt that.”

Morgan said he and his brother were from a family of five children born to Marvin and Eustolia “Lee” Morgan and that they lived in Venice, Calif. Richard had some legal troubles tied to drugs and gangs and moved to Spokane in 1989 to get away from the distractions, he said.

In Spokane, he worked for Boeing for a time before he started working construction concrete jobs with a family friend.

“He was a very strong person who we’ve all learned from,” Ruiz said. “He was almost like an older brother.”

Richard Morgan loved baseball and pushed his nephews to excel. His guidance helped his nephew Raymond Ruiz start for his high school varsity team as a freshman, Ruiz said.

“He excelled in any sport he played,” Ruiz said. “He lived the way he wanted to, and he would give you the shirt off his back.”

Lisa Morgan said her brother had two children, an 18-year-old son, Anthony, in Los Angeles, and 11-year-old son, Jesse, who lives in Spokane and was by his father’s side when he died.

Ruiz said Uncle Rick would defend him and anybody he knew. It apparently led to his death.

“There are many family members and friends who will stick up for him regardless if he is here on earth or not,” Ruiz said. “There will be a lot of people fighting for him to keep his spirit alive.”