After 26-year-old Gemmel Moore was found dead in prominent Democrat donor Ed Buck’s West Hollywood apartment in July 2017, the coroner ruled that Moore had died of an accidental methamphetamine overdose.

Then Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon, read her son’s journal, and concluded that her son’s death was no accident.

“In his journal, Moore wrote, ‘I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,’ a December entry reads. ‘Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.’

Moore’s journal detailed his relationship with Buck and included details about their encounters.

“Buck preyed on black men and…solicited her son for sex numerous times. During the encounters…Buck insisted on injecting Moore with crystal methamphetamine then forced him to watch pornography and perform sex acts while intoxicated.”

After Nixon published the journal online, other men – usually black male escorts – came forward with stories of similar encounters. Buck solicited them online, then “forcibly injected” them with crystal methamphetamine and “watch[ed] them cling to life while battling symptoms of methamphetamine toxicity.”

The LA County Sheriff’s department opened an investigation into the death and heard from “witness after witness” but eventually declined to press charges, saying that there was “insufficient admissible evidence.”

Nixon and family advocate Jasmyne Cannick believe that the LA County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney Jackie Lacey have failed to prosecute Buck because of his political donations. Since Buck isn’t facing any criminal consequences, Nixon took the step of suing Buck for wrongful death.

The mother of a man who died inside the West Hollywood apartment of a prominent Democratic party donor filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man and the LA Co DA. LaTisha Nixon accused Ed Buck of giving her son a lethal dose of meth, a charge Buck denies. pic.twitter.com/pqLc4vKoRB

— Eric Leonard (@LeonardFiles) February 27, 2019

Nixon told NBC Los Angeles that she’s also decided to file a lawsuit against Lacey, who received political contributions from Buck.

“Ed Buck can never fully compensate Gemmel’s mother and his family for hurting and killing Gemmel as we have alleged, but as a wealthy donor, it is only fitting that he take the funds he uses to influence politicians like Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey to atone for his crimes against Gemmel,” Nana Gymafi, an attorney for Nixon, said in a statement.

Cannick’s Twitter account includes surveillance video included in a news story in the aftermath of Moore’s death that shows a young black man climbing the stairs to Buck’s apartment while Moore’s body was still inside and investigators were in the hallway.

Oh and let’s not forget that before they could remove Gemmel Moore’s dead body out of 1234 Laurel Avenue Apartment 17, Ed Buck already had another young man headed up the stairs. And you know what? That young man was Black too. Go figure. Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) January 11, 2019

Cannick also posted what she claims is a photo of Buck and a different young black man, whom she had interviewed, doing meth in Buck’s apartment sometime before Moore’s death.

Oh and then there’s the photo of Ed Buck doing meth with one of the young Black men I interviewed. I first published this photo in 2017. 2017. Ed Buck’s friends had excuses then too. Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) January 11, 2019

A second man, 55-year-old Timothy Dean, was found dead in Buck’s apartment in January 2019. Buck’s attorney has previously made statements blaming Dean and Moore for their own deaths and slamming critics for “using race.”

“These are things they are bringing into this residence that are causing their death,” Amster said. “He has a heart of gold.”

“Some people still want us to have a race war,” attorney Seymour Amster said of Buck’s critics. “Some people want to look at things as black, white or brown. It’s not. If we want to move forward and get away from identifying individuals by race, we must take race out of the conversation.”

In the civil suit, Nixon’s attorneys will have the opportunity to subpoena documents, witnesses, and other evidence and question Buck under oath, which could lead to the discovery of additional evidence that can be used in a criminal prosecution.