Civil jury finds imprisoned donor responsible for death tied to West Hollywood apartment.
Former Southern California political donor Ed Buck must pay $2 million to the mother of Gemmel Moore after a Los Angeles jury found him liable for Moore’s 2017 overdose death, according to multiple media sources.
Jurors returned the verdict on Wednesday following a brief civil trial that began Monday. The panel of five men and three women unanimously sided with Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon, after roughly an hour of deliberations.
Buck, 71, is already serving a 30-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on nine felony counts connected to the overdose deaths of Moore and another man, Timothy Dean, at Buck’s West Hollywood apartment.
The wrongful death lawsuit moved forward after Buck failed to finalize a settlement agreement reached with Nixon in 2024. Nixon alleged Buck engaged in negligent and unlawful conduct that led to her son’s death and accused him of sexual battery, assault, hate violence based on Moore’s race, human trafficking, and other misconduct.
Moore, 26, died of a methamphetamine overdose in July 2017. Dean died under similar circumstances at Buck’s apartment about 18 months later, in January 2019.
Evidence presented during the criminal case showed Buck targeted vulnerable young Black men, many experiencing homelessness or addiction. Prosecutors said Buck invited them to his apartment for drug-fueled encounters often referred to as “party and play” sessions, where victims were injected with methamphetamine and given other drugs, sometimes without their consent.
Buck has denied wrongdoing, maintaining Moore was a friend and longtime drug user who willingly participated in drug use.
Federal jurors found Buck guilty of all nine felony counts in July 2021, four years after Moore’s death.Another civil lawsuit tied to Buck’s conduct is pending in Santa Monica. The estate of Dane Brown has filed a case against Buck. Brown, 43, survived several overdoses at Buck’s home and testified in the criminal trial before he was found dead in South Los Angeles in November 2024.