Timothy Dean’s Sisters Seek Pretrial Judgment of Wrongful Death Suit Against Ed Buck

Timothy Dean’s three sisters, Joyce Jackson, Joann Campbell, and Retha Singleton, are seeking judgment before trial on three of their eight civil suit claims against former WeHo resident and Democratic donor Ed Buck. Dean died in Buck’s WeHo apartment in 2019.

Their claims include wrongful death, drug dealer liability, and premises civil liability. In their court papers filed with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge H. Jay Ford III on Monday, March 27, 2023, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that Buck’s conviction in the death of their brother already proves their claims. They maintain that these issues were conclusively determined during Buck’s criminal trial and thus are conclusive with respect to Buck’s civil liability.

The lawsuit filed in January 2020 by Dean’s sisters allege that Ed Buck injected 55-year-old Timothy Dean on Jan. 7, 2019, with a lethal dose of crystal methamphetamine. Their court papers describe Ed Buck as a “wealthy white man who has a well-documented history of isolating black men for perverted sexual encounters … in the confines of a drug den in his West Hollywood apartment.”

After a nine-day trial and six-hour deliberation on July 27, 2021, a jury found Ed Buck, 67, guilty of all nine felony counts against him, including two for distribution of controlled substances resulting in the deaths of Gemmel Moore, 26, who died on July 27, 2017, and Dean, 55, who died on January 7, 2019. There were four counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug den, and two counts of enticement to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution. Buck was sentenced to 30 years in prison in April 2022.

The lawsuit alleges that several vials, syringes, and containers of narcotics were recovered from throughout Buck’s residence and that the Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded that Dean’s death was caused by an accidental methamphetamine overdose. The court papers also state that Buck has contributed more than $500,000 to the election campaigns and legal defense funds of numerous Los Angeles County and city government officials and candidates since 2008.

If the judge grants the current motion during a scheduled June 27 hearing, the plaintiffs’ remaining causes of action against Buck, which include sexual battery, assault, battery, hate violence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, will be left for trial.