Prosecutors Won’t Charge Ed Buck For Death of Gay Black Man Gemmel Moore

Democratic donor Ed Buck will not face charges for the death of Gemmel Moore, the 26-year-old gay black man who fatally overdosed in his West Hollywood home in July 2017. According to the Los Angeles Times, insufficient evidence prompted prosecutors to decline to file charges. 

According to the document obtained by the Times, authorities also performed an inadmissible search and seizure. Seymour Amster, an attorney for Buck, called the decision a “complete exoneration” to the Times. 

“Gemmel Moore’s death was a tragedy. It’s now clear that Ed Buck had nothing to do with it,” Amster said.

The medical examiner found Moore’s death to be an “accident” caused by “methamphetamine use,” and those who knew Moore allege Buck injected him with the drug.

At a wake for Gemmel Moore held in front of the West Hollywood sheriff’s station in August, Moore’s mother LaTisha Nixon said that her son’s death “shouldn’t have happened.”

“I just hope the sheriff’s department does not fail my son,” she added. 

At the time, Moore’s godfather Marcus Wilson-Smith called the investigation into Moore’s death “botched.” 

“The case was open and shut so quickly,” he said. “I’ve never seen an autopsy report completed so fast.”

Though Moore passed in Buck’s home in July 2017, the sheriff’s department didn’t open an investigation into his death for 21 days. Moore’s mother also confirmed to the WeHoTimes that Ed Buck was a client of her son’s, who performed sex work.

In September, the L.A. County District’s Office granted several young men immunity to offer testimony about Buck and the incident in his West Hollywood home.