Ed Buck will not be charged for the death of Gemmel Moore. | Photo: Ed Buck / Facebook
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has declined to charge a man over the death of a gay escort.
Gemmel Moore died on 27 July last year after a methamphetamine overdose.
Police found Moore in the apartment of Ed Buck – an American political activist and donor to the Democratic Party.
26-year-old Moore was homeless and working as an escort at the time.
Buck allegedly paid Moore to come back to his Laurel Avenue home.
When police arrived at the house, they found Moore naked on a living room mattress with a ‘male pornography movie playing on the television,’ according to the coroner’s report.
The coroner ruled Moore’s death as accidental and Buck declines all involvement in his death.
‘Insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt’
On Thursday (26 July) evening, the LA County DA’s Office filed a Denial of Filing Charges report.
The report cited ‘insufficient’ evidence for not pursuing a case against Buck.
According to a charge-evaluation worksheet, the evidence is ‘insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Buck] is responsible for the death of Gemmel Moore.
‘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,’ the worksheet stated.
Thank you to everyone who came out last night to West Hollywood to remember Gemmel Moore and speak on the injustice dealt to my family and his friends by the district attorney’s decision to not file criminal charges against Ed Buck. pic.twitter.com/izPZeYOBIA
— LaTisha Nixon (@Justice4Gemmel) 28 July 2018
During a vigil for Gemmel Moore on Friday (27 July) night, his mother Latisha Nixon said: ‘I think that Ed Buck is guilty of injecting my son with meth.’
Buck denies this claim and says he wasn’t present when Moore was using the methamphetamine.
Nixon tweeted yesterday (28 July): ‘Thank you to everyone who came out last night… to remember Gemmel Moore.’
Michael Rice’s documentary follows the story of Moore.
Gay Star News reached out to Ed Buck for comment.
