Drug Overdose In Big-Time Democratic Donor Ed Buck's Home Under Investigation

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – A fatal drug overdose of a 26-year-old man at the West Hollywood home of prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives, it was reported Tuesday.

While coroner's officials ruled Gemmel Moore's July 27 death an accident, homicide detectives will be conducting a follow-up investigation based on "additional information," Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Monday, The Los Angeles Times reported. He declined to elaborate.

Initial investigations by deputies and the Los Angeles County Coroner's office did not flag anything suspicious in Moore's death, sheriff's Capt. Chris Bergner said, but the new probe was being launched "out of abundance of caution."

An attorney representing Buck, Seymour Amster said Monday that his client had "nothing to do with this young man's tragic death," The Times reported. He added that Moore, whom he described as a "good friend" of Buck, was found in a bathroom of the home, alone, with the door closed.

It was "a self-imposed accidental death," he said. Buck, 62, did not return calls seeking comment.

Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said Buck was inside the Laurel Avenue home at the time of Moore's death and that drug paraphernalia was recovered from the scene.

The new investigation came amid calls by Moore's family for a deeper examination of his death. Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, said her son worked for a time as an escort and used drugs, The Times reported. Shortly before his death, he told her he was homeless.

Buck has served on the Stonewall Democratic Club Steering Committee. Last week, the group requested Buck’s resignation in the wake of Moore's death, according to The Times.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post

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