An African-American man has been found dead in the Los Angeles apartment of a prominent Democratic Party donor – the second time a black man has died in the home in the past 18 months.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies found the body of the man in the early morning hours Monday at the West Hollywood home of Ed Buck.
The victim was described as a black man in his fifties, according to KTLA-TV.
Emergency crews at the scene tried to revive the man, who has yet to be identified, but were unsuccessful.
This is the same apartment where in July 2017, Gemmel Moore, 26, was found dead of an apparent overdose of methamphetamine, according to WEHOville.
A coroner’s report stated that drug paraphernalia was found in the home along with sex toys and clear plastic bags that are believed to have been used to carry drugs.
An African-American man was found dead in the Los Angeles apartment of a prominent Democratic Party donor – the second time a black man died in the home in the past 18 months. The coroner is seen with the body in West Hollywood on Monday
This is the same apartment where in July 2017, Gemmel Moore, 26, was found dead of an apparent overdose of methamphetamine
Family: Gemmel Moore is pictured here with his sister and his mother, LaTisha Nixon
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office decided not to prosecute Buck, saying there was ‘insufficient [evidence] to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Buck] is responsible for the death of Gemmel Moore.’
The DA’s Office said: ‘Likewise, the admissible evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that suspect Buck furnished drugs to Gemmel Moore or that suspect Buck possessed drugs.’
In February of last year Moore’s family published pages from his diary in which he alleged that it was Buck who first introduced him to narcotics.
These revelations prompted the LASD to reopen its investigation into Buck.
Since the investigation was launched, a number of other men of color have come forward to claim political power player Buck, who is single and came out as gay at 16, paid them to take drugs.
The coroner’s report, from July 31, 2017, noted that investigators spoke with a woman who knew Moore, who said that the prostitute had told her about another man he knew that had been tied up by Buck ‘over a year ago’, who then ‘held him against his will at the residence in West Hollywood.’
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies found the body of the man in the early morning hours Monday at the West Hollywood home of Ed Buck (seen right alongside Hillary Clinton in this undated file photo)
The report also stated that Buck’s apartment was full of drug paraphernalia including dozens of syringes containing brown residue, five glass pipes with white residue, several baggies of white power, and a bag of a ‘crystal-like’ substance, such as crystal meth.
Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon, said that her son had been involved with sex-work in the years leading up to his death.
‘I called one of my son’s friends and was like, “who the hell is Edward Buck?'” Nixon said, speaking from her home in Spring Texas. ‘And my son’s friend was like, “oh my God, that’s that white guy, that wealthy white politician guy… he was like “oh my God…’”
During Nixon’s conversation with her son’s friend, a darker picture of Moore’s life began to emerge, with Buck allegedly playing a role.
‘When he calmed down, he told me that Ed Buck was one of my son’s clients and that Ed Buck was one of his clients as well,’ Nixon said.
Emergency crews at the scene tried to revive the man, who has yet to be identified, but were unsuccessful. Buck’s West Hollywood apartment on Laurel Avenue is seen in the above file photo
‘[Buck] would have my son to go out to… Santa Monica Boulevard looking for young gay black guys so he could inject them with drugs, see their reaction and how [they] would react and take pictures of them.’
Pages from Moore’s personal journal allege that Buck had a strange fascination with watching others take drugs, and had even supplied him his first hit of crystal meth.
‘I honestly don’t know what to do,’ he wrote in the excerpt from December 2016, published by the family, and advocate Jasmyne Cannick.
‘I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that.
‘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 (injecting drugs) 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?’
His final entry, dated December 3, 2016, read: ‘If it didn’t hurt so bad, I’d kill myself, but I’ll let Ed Buck do it for now.’
The stairway leading to the apartment is seen in the file photo above
Buck was reportedly present in his home during both deaths, but has not been charged
The apartment is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home located at 1234 North Laurel Avenue
According to Zillow, it was last available for rent at a monthly cost of $1,650
Cannick says she has spoken to a number of other gay black men who claim Buck would invite them to his house, then pay them several hundred dollars to take drugs.
She shares reports from at least three men, under pseudonyms, who alleged that Buck would pay them between $100 and $1,000 to ‘Party n Play’, meaning to get high with them, and perform sexual acts.
Buck’s lawyer has said that his client is innocent and that Moore died of an accidental overdose.
Buck, a gay white man in his early 60s, is a wealthy donor to Democratic politicians.
He has been photographed with Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former California Governor Jerry Brown.
Buck is an active donor who supports the Democratic Party. He is seen above with former California Governor Jerry Brown in this undated file photo
Buck has given more than $500,000 to party members including Clinton, Barack Obama, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and many others.
The 64-year-old became a successful businessman, pioneering in computer technology, specifically in electronic information services, in Arizona before moving to Los Angeles.
A one-time registered Republican, Buck began getting involved in Southern California politics in the early 1990s.
After news broke of the second death at Buck’s home, Cannick announced on Monday that there would be a rally in front of his home calling on the LASD to arrest Buck.
Cannick is also demanding that the DA’s Office, headed by Jackie Lacey, ‘prosecute him for murder after another young black gay man was found dead in his West Hollywood apartment of an apparent overdose.’