LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The following is a statement is from Jasmyne Cannick and attorney Nana Gyamfi on behalf of Justice 4 Gemmel and All of Ed Buck’s Victims regarding the Sheriff’s Department’s investigation into the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean—two Black gay men--at Democratic major donor Ed Buck’s West Hollywood apartment:
We are deeply concerned about the continued failure of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to engage in a rigorous investigation of Ed Buck regarding the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean in Buck's home within 18 months of each other.
Sheriff homicide detectives reached out to attorney Nana Gyamfi shortly after Mr. Dean's death, asking to interview witnesses who had spoken with Jasmyne Cannick about their dealings with Ed Buck. She informed them that she was getting immunity letters for those witnesses from the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Ms. Gyamfi received those immunity letters and informed the detectives almost three weeks ago that she was ready to proceed with the interviews. She has received no request from the detectives for interviews since then. The witnesses we have received immunity letters for are critical to the investigations of the deaths of Gemmel and Mr. Dean. No investigation is complete without their official statements.
The Sheriff’s Department is planning on giving the public an update on the investigation Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. at a meeting of the West Hollywood City Council.
We know that law enforcement--particularly the Sheriff’s Department--doesn’t speak publicly on the details of ongoing investigations, especially when they are allegedly trying to make a case to present to the District Attorney’s office and don’t have a suspect in custody. So we are perplexed as to what kind of a real update the Sheriff’s Department could offer.
We’re particularly concerned because we feel as if we've been here before. During the investigation of Gemmel Moore’s death, sheriff homicide detectives dismissed and discounted the credible statements of relevant witnesses who stepped out of their comfort zones to speak with law enforcement in their effort to support justice for Gemmel and all of Ed Buck's victims. It seems that this time around, the detectives are not even interested in speaking with these most-impacted witnesses.
We’re also concerned that we haven't heard from those detectives assigned to the re-opened investigation on Gemmel's death. We told detectives then that if Ed Buck was not stopped, there would be another dead Black man found in his apartment. Tragically, our prediction came true.
This week will mark one month since the death of Timothy Dean and from our point of view, very little has been done to investigate his death as well as Gemmel Moore’s.
We are hopeful that the Sheriff's Department is not waiting for a third Black man to die in Ed Buck's apartment before they take these deaths and their investigation seriously.