Timeline
Spring 2017
Gemmel "Juelz" Moore leaves Los Angeles and moves to Texas to live with this mother whom he had a great relationship with.
July 27, 2017
Noted Democratic donor Ed Buck purchases a plane ticket for 26-year-old Gemmel Moore to fly back to Los Angeles from Texas. Gemmel lands at LAX. There is a documented text conversation between Buck and Moore regarding the ticket and his return to Los Angeles.
Within 24 hours of arriving back in Los Angeles, Gemmel Moore dies of crystal meth overdose in the West Hollywood home of Ed Buck. The death is immediately ruled an accidental methamphetamine overdose by the coroner. The Sheriff's Department does not investigate.
While Gemmel's dead body laid in Buck's home, video surveillance showed another young man headed up to Buck's apartment who had to be turned away by sheriff's deputies.
When Gemmel's family was notified, red flags raised and concerns were communicated immediately to law enforcement officials to no avail.
Gemmel's mother starts to contact reporters in Los Angeles.
L.A. Weekly reporter (now NBC) Dennis Romero picks up the story. Dennis tells journalist and advocate Jasmyne Cannick about the situation and asks if she thinks she can help. He makes an introduction between Gemmel Moore's and Jasmyne.
That marks the beginning of Jasmyne's involvement in the case.
August 8, 2017
The Stonewall Democratic Club issues a statement on the death of Gemmel Moore and accepts the resignation of Ed Buck as a member of the Stonewall Democratic Club and from the Stonewall Democratic Club Steering Committee.
August 10, 2017
LaTisha Nixon, Gemmel Moore's mother, takes to social media to call out the Sheriff's Department to investigate her son's death.
August 14, 2017
Pages from Gemmel Moore's personal journal are published by journalist Jasmyne Cannick.
In his journal, Moore wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,” a December entry reads. “Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.”
“My life is at an alltime [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and got munipulated [sic] into slamming again. I even went to the point where I was forced to doing 4 within a 2day [sic] period. This man is crazy and its [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?”
“Slamming” refers to gay men injecting drugs such as mephedrone, GHB, or crystal meth.
Moore’s last entry, dated December 3, 2016, reads, “If it didn’t hurt so bad, I’d kill myself, but I’ll let Ed Buck do it for now.”
August 15, 2017
19 days later and only AFTER Gemmel's journal was published and appeared in the mainstream news, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department finally launches a homicide investigation.
Numerous young men start coming forward to journalist Jasmyne Cannick with photos, emails, and text messages recounting similar stories involving Ed Buck and accusing him of being a sexual predator, kidnapping, forced drug use, injecting unconscious black gay men with crystal meth, filing false police reports to cover his crimes, coercion, pimping, and pandering.
August 18, 2017
The family and friends of Gemmel Moore hold a vigil in West Hollywood and call upon law enforcement authorities to charge Ed Buck in the death of Gemmel Moore.
Rep. Karen Bass issues a statement on the death of Gemmel Moore and returns her $250 donation to his family.
August 19, 2017
Gemmel Moore's funeral is held in South L.A.
August 21, 2017
LaTisha Nixon, Gemmel Moore's mother, makes a passionate please before the West Hollywood City Council for help in getting justice for her son and all of Ed Buck's victims. She asked for the City Council to support immunity for any potential witnesses and/or victims that may come forward. This was supported and echoed by West Hollywood Councilmember Lindsey Horvath.
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Duran--who has also represented Ed Buck as his attorney and taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Buck over the years--warned that neither investigators nor city officials can grant immunity. Duran's comments were taken by many as a low key threat for would be witnesses and victims to not come forward.
“Transparency doesn’t always work with the criminal justice system,” Duran said. “Transparency can subject you to criminal arrest and prosecution. So, before you do anything, you should seek legal counsel to advise you on how to proceed forward before you speak to law enforcement.”
August 26, 2017
Journalist Jasmyne Cannick publishes a comprehensive list of all of the Democratic candidates and organizations who have taken money from Ed Buck.
August 31, 2017
After getting virtually no response from elected officials in the Democratic Party who accepted money from Ed Buck, the family and friends of Gemmel Moore launch a petition calling on Democrats to return Ed Buck's dirty money.
Attorney Nana Gyamfi announces that immunity has been granted to witnesses and victims to come forward safely and make statements to the Sheriff's Department about Ed Buck.
September 11, 2017
Ed Buck sends an Uber to pick up a young Black gay man in South L.A. and bring him back to his house to do meth with him.
September 13, 2017
Witness and victim interviews begin with sheriff's detectives.
September 18, 2017
Ed Buck's criminal defense attorney, Seymour Amster, made an appearance at the meeting of the West Hollywood City Council to defend his client Ed Buck against what he referred to as “character assassination.”
Amster, who most recently represented serial killer Lonnie Franklin more commonly referred to as the Grim Sleeper, demanded to know if West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath was involved in what he referred to as “instigating, promoting or financing the character attacks on Mr. Buck.” He told the City Council that his office sent in a request for an ethics investigation of Councilmember Horvath for failing to disclose that Buck had in the past opposed her candidacy.
October 18, 2017
Newly discovered cellphones that belonged to Gemmel Moore are turned over to attorney and legal consultant Nana Gyamfi.
October 18, 2017
A community town hall meeting is held in West Hollywood to discuss Gemmel Moore's death and Ed Buck's role.
November 18, 2017
Gemmel Moore's coroner's report is published corroborating Gemmel’s chilling words from his journal describing the violence he experienced at the hands of Ed Buck. The L.A. Times' article on the coroner's report validates the accounts of Buck’s other victims including being a sexual predator, kidnapping, forced drug use, injecting unconscious Black gay men with crystal meth, filing false police reports to cover his crimes, coercion and pimping and pandering.
July 10, 2018
Sheriff’s investigators presented their case to prosecutors on July 10 without elaborating on whether investigators had recommended criminal charges and, if so, against whom.
July 26, 2018
16 days later, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey declines to file any criminal charges against Ed Buck in the death of Gemmel Moore.
Journalist Jasmyne Cannick warns the District Attorney and the Sheriff's Department that when another Black gay man dies at Ed Buck's home it's going to be their fault for not stopping him when they had the chance.
January 7, 2019
55-year-old Timothy Dean is found dead of an apparent overdose in Ed Buck's apartment. The official cause of death is still pending.
January 9, 2019
28-year-old Jermaine Gagnon tells DailyMailTV how he narrowly escaped death when Ed Buck injected him with crystal meth at his apartment.
January 11, 2019
Gemmel Moore's mother LaTisha Nixon, joins with friends of Timothy Dean and the community to mourn the death of Dean in front of Ed Buck's apartment.
January 19, 2019
A celebration of life is held for Timothy Dean in Hollywood, California with his friends and in Tampa, Florida with his family.
February 14, 2019
Ed Buck is caught in public with another young Black man by CBS2 investigative reporter David Goldstein.
February 19, 2019
Justice4Gemmel + joins the #MeToo movement in calling for the resignation of West Hollywood Mayor John Duran. In addition to serving as an attorney for Ed Buck and seemingly trying to protect him, Duran allegedly inappropriately touched a fellow member of the Gay Men’s Chorus and sexually harassing a former employee. Duran is also the recipients of over $12,000 from Ed Buck for his various campaigns.
February 26, 2019
Color of Change delivers over 30,000 petitions calling on Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey to prosecute Ed Buck for the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean.
Attorneys for Gemmel Moore's mother, Ms. La Tisha Nixon, file a wrongful death lawsuit against Ed Buck, DA Jackie Lacey and Asst. Head Deputy DA Craig Hum.
March 24, 2019
On Sunday, March 24, family and friends of Timothy Dean gathered in West Hollywood along with the community to celebrate what would have been his 56th birthday. Timothy's sisters Joyce Jackson and Joann Campbell attended as well as his close friends Mark Chambers and Walter Harris. Together they shared testimony and insight on Timothy's character and the love they had for him.
March 25, 2019
After being called out on social media for misleading reporters on the status of autopsy and coroner's report, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department releases the coroner's finding on the death of Timothy Dean.
Just like with Gemmel Moore's death in 2017, the coroner's office found Timothy Dean died as a result of a methamphetamine overdose. His death was ruled accidental. The Los Angeles County coroner’s report, says Timothy Dean died of methamphetamine and alcohol toxicity and the drugs appeared to have been injected. Ed Buck waited for at least 15 minutes before calling 911 according to the autopsy report.
July 3, 2019
Attorneys for the mother and estate of Gemmel Moore filed an amendment to their wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging human trafficking and revenge porn. The case was initially filed in L.A. Superior Court but moved to federal court in May.
July 26, 2019
Color of Change, a progressive nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization, releases their Stop Ed Buck video.
July 27, 2019
Gemmel Moore's mothers and friends gather in front of Ed Buck's apartment to remember Moore and renew their calls for justice on the second anniversary of his death.
September 11, 2019
Jasmyne Cannick tweets a photo of a young Black man with bandages on his arm entering Ed Buck's apartment in West Hollywood.
September 11, 2019
Judge Cormac J. Carney ruled on requests by California Democratic major donor Ed Buck and Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey to toss out the wrongful death civil rights lawsuit in the 2017 meth overdose death of 26-year-old Gemmel Moore. Judge Carney did not grant either Motion to Dismiss but made way for amendments to be submitted to the court. Judge Carney rejected almost all of Ed Buck’s arguments, including his attempt to get rid of the human trafficking claim. This means the lawsuit will be one of the first to have successfully stated a federal human trafficking claim in civil court, which paves the way for other survivors to hold their sexual predators legally accountable.
September 17, 2019
Ed Buck is arrested and charged with operating a drug house and providing methamphetamine to a 37-year-old man who suffered an overdose at Buck's West Hollywood apartment the week before. That man turned out to be the same man seen in the photo tweeted out on September 6 by Jasmyne Cannick.
September 19, 2019
Ed Buck appeared in criminal court but his arraignment was pushed until October 10, 2019.
Federal prosecutors charged Ed Buck with a federal drug crime in the death of Gemmel Moore. was charged with the distribution of methamphetamine resulting in death, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of life. He is being held in federal custody.
A criminal complaint also detailed a disturbing pattern in which the authorities said that Mr. Buck had exchanged drugs and money for sexual favors. There were at least 11 victims in the last two years, according to the complaint, including one who said he left Mr. Buck’s apartment after overdosing last week and called 911.
September 25, 2019
Gemmel Moore's mother holds her first press conference in Los Angeles since the arrest of Ed Buck.
A second amendment was filed in the Gemmel Moore wrongful death lawsuit.
September 27, 2019
At a brief detention hearing in Los Angeles federal court, Ed Buck did not contest the government’s motion asking that he remain in custody.
“I don’t see anything that would alleviate danger,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh said, indicating that Buck presents a danger to the community, one of the primary issues discussed at federal detention hearings.
September 29, 2019
Jasmyne Cannick announced that Joe Doe, the last man who overdosed in Ed Buck's apartment but survived signed a declaration that Buck's attorney Seymour Amster told his client to leave the state pending a rumored arrest.
October 2, 2019
Ed Buck was indicted by a federal grand jury on a series of narcotics distribution offenses, including providing methamphetamine to two men who died after being injected with the drug. The indictment alleges that Buck provided methamphetamine to Gemmel Moore, who overdosed on the drug and died on July 27, 2017, and Timothy Dean, who also suffered a fatal overdose in Buck’s apartment, on January 7, 2019.
Each of the charges alleging the distribution of narcotics resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum penalty of life without parole.
Buck also faces three counts of distributing methamphetamine to men in May 2018, December 2018 and last month. Each of these three charges carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
October 10, 2019
LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Gemmel Moore, Joyce Jackson and Joann Campbell, the sisters of Timothy Dean met for the first time in person ahead of Ed Buck's arraignment in federal court.
Ed Buck appeared in court at his arraignment on his federal charges. He pled not guilty. A trial was scheduled for November 26--but that date may be changed.
October 28, 2019
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey blames the sheriff's department for illegally searching Ed Buck's red toolbox on the night of Gemmel Moore's death.
December 19, 2019
Ed Buck hired former O.J. Simpson prosecutor, Christopher Darden, to represent him on his federal charges.
December 31, 2019
Ed Buck is officially evicted from 1234 N. Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood.
January 7, 2020
Family and friends of Timothy Dean gather to remember him on the one year anniversary of his death.
April 30, 2020
Ed Buck retains second prominent Black attorney for his federal criminal defense. Ludlow B. Creary II joins Christopher Darden on Buck's defense team.
May 26, 2020
Buck's federal criminal trial is officially delayed due to COVID-19. The new trial start date is January 19, 2021.
August 4, 2020
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Edward Buck with four additional felonies, including that he allegedly enticed victims – including a man who died at his West Hollywood apartment after he administered drugs to him – to travel interstate to engage in prostitution.
September 25, 2020
The Honorable Rozella A. Oliver denied Ed Buck's petition for bail.
November 3, 2020
After ignoring the pleas to arrest and charge Ed Buck and Timothy Dean's death, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey is voted out of office. Also voted out of office is long time Buck friend and lawyer West Hollywood Councilmember John Duran.
January 7, 2021
Ed Buck's criminal trial is delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new trial date is April 20, 2021.
March 2, 2021
Federal Judge Christina Synder hears arguments on Ed Buck's motion to suppress evidence.
July 6, 2021
Federal Judge Christina Synder declares that the trial of USA v Edward Buck will commence on July 13, 2021, at 9 a.m.
July 13, 2021
Ed Buck's trial starts.
July 27, 2021
After four and half hours of deliberating, Ed Buck is found guilty on all nine counts.
April 5, 2022
Judge Snyder denies Ed Buck's motion for judgment acquittal.
April 14, 2022
Ed Buck was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. He won't be eligible for release until he serves at least 25-and-a-half years--85 percent of his sentence.
“If another young, Black gay man overdoses or worse dies at Democratic donor Ed Buck’s apartment it’s going to be the fault of the sheriff’s dept and L.A. District Atty for not stopping him when they had the opportunity to.”
-Jasmyne Cannick
