Gemmel Moore’s Mother and Jasmyne Cannick Praise Councilmember Lindsey Horvath for Pushing the Investigation of His Death

LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Gemmel Moore, and Jasmyne Cannick, who led the campaign for an investigation into his death in 2017 in the Laurel Avenue apartment of Ed Buck, spoke at tonight’s City Council meeting in praise of City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath for her help and were dismissive of Mayor John D’Amico’s assertion that he and other members of the Council also had been pushing for an investigation into the circumstances of Moore’s death.

Buck’s arrest last Tuesday on charges of operating a drug den and on Wednesday on a federal charge of distributing methamphetamine leading to a death brought an end to a more than two-year campaign by Cannick and Nixon and black activists to investigate Buck’s involvement in Moore’s death and in the drug-related death in Buck’s apartment in January of this year of Timothy Dean, a 55-year-old black man. However, the arrest, which got nationwide media coverage, has revived criticism of local politicians and District Attorney Jackie Lacey for not more aggressively investigating Buck and has prompted allegations that his donations to election campaigns of Democratic elected officials had bought him some protection. 

In a recent op-ed published by WEHOville, Marco Colantonio called on Mayor D’Amico and the City Council to acknowledge the effort by Cannick to press District Attorney Jackie Lacey and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department to investigate Buck’s involvement in Gemmel Moore’s death. Lacey initially refused to file charges against Buck, saying that an investigation by the Sheriff’s Department didn’t turn up sufficient evidence to ensure a conviction.

D’Amico, in an apparent response to the pressure, opened tonight’s City Council meeting by asking Cannick to lead with the Pledge of Allegiance and then followed with a speech in which he said: “I and my colleagues on the City Council have been seeking justice and have pressed the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office for a full investigation.” D’Amico acknowledged the work of Cannick and of Jerome Kitchen, a young black man who was a friend of Moore’s and who had interrupted several city meetings to demand that action be taken in investigating Buck.

In her comments before the Council, Cannick focused on Lindsey Horvath. “I came down here today because I want to publicly thank Lindsey Horvath,” she said. “I don’t know about the rest of you,” she said, referring to the other City Council members, “but you (Horvath) stood with us.

“… I also want to thank the people of West Hollywood who were (Buck’s) neighbors … and made sure to let us know what was going on at all times,” Cannick said, a reference to alerts from others in and near Buck’s apartment at 1234 N. Laurel Ave. about the arrival at Buck’s apartment of young black men, some of whom who Buck has solicited on the Adam4Adam.com gay sex site. An affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against Ed Buck in U.S. District Court on Wednesday identifies 10 young black men who have claimed to have had drug-related sexual encounters with Buck in his apartment.

LaTisha Nixon began her comments to the City Council by saying: “Mayor, I do want to thank you for the $25 donation to my son’s funeral,” a somewhat caustic response to the fact that D’Amico has declined to redirect Ed Buck’s contributions to his election campaigns to the “Justice 4 Gemmel + All of Ed Buck’s Victims” fund, which Cannick has said “will help with legal costs as well as supporting the family of Gemmel Moore and all of Ed Buck’s victims.”

D’Amico’s initial election to the Council in 2011 came with the support of Buck, an animal rights activist, based on D’Amico’s pledge to push for a fur sales ban in West Hollywood. Buck has donated a total of $1,000 to D’Amico’s 2011 and 2015 election campaigns. Buck also has donated over $500,000 to a political action committee called the Animal PAC, which is said to have campaigned in favor of D’Amico along with many other local, state and federal Democratic Party candidates.

Speaking to Horvath, Nixon said: “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, the bottom of my family’s heart… I want to thank you for believing us for stepping out and advocating for us.”

Nixon also criticized Councilmember John Duran, who was on vacation to celebrate his birthday and wasn’t present at tonight’s Council meeting, for his controversial response to her request at an Aug. 21 City Council meeting that law enforcement grant immunity to prosecution to sex workers who were willing to testify about their interactions with Buck. At that meeting, Duran warned that such testimony would make the sex workers vulnerable to prosecution for prostitution or drug use.  Horvath responded that she had asked the District Attorney’s Office to grant such immunity, which it did.

While the City Council has been criticized for not speaking out about the deaths in Buck’s apartment, in fact, it did issue a statement in January, after the death of Timothy Dean, saying it “has requested a full investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.” At several meetings Council members also have questioned Capt. Edward Ramirez of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station about the status of the Buck investigation.