The second man found dead in the span of two years in political activist and prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck's West Hollywood apartment died of a methamphetamine overdose, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said Monday.
Timothy Dean's death Jan. 7 was ruled accidental by the coroner's office, the sheriff's department said.
Dean, 55, was found dead in Buck's apartment after Gemmel Moore, 26, died there in July 2017. Moore's death was also ruled as an accidental overdose of crystal methamphetamine.
Police did not charge Buck with any crime, but last month, Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck, Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, the assistant district attorney and others.
Nixon said she had found Moore's personal journal in which Moore wrote that Buck had made him hooked on crystal meth by injecting him with the dangerous drug.
The 24-page lawsuit accuses Buck of wrongful death, sexual battery, assault, battery, negligence, civil rights violation, hate violence and drug dealer liability.
Many of the lawsuit's claims against Buck had previously been alleged by journalist and activist Jasmyne Cannick, who, along with other activists, publicized Moore's journal and delivered a 30,000-signature petition demanding local authorities reinvestigate and indict Buck.
“This lawsuit helps to protect a very vulnerable population of gay black men by exposing details of Buck's predatory and racially-discriminatory actions against gay black men,” said Nana Gymafi, human rights and criminal defense attorney and co-counsel for Nixon.
A year after Moore died, Cannick had posted a warning to Twitter that another black man was likely to die in Buck's apartment.
In a statement provided to NBC News at the time, Seymour Amster, Buck’s attorney, said, “On behalf of Mr. Buck, we categorically deny all allegations of wrongdoing and look forward to litigating this matter in a court of law.”
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