Even after two men were found dead in his California apartment, Ed Buck did not stop injecting gay men with walloping doses of methamphetamine.
Defense lawyers are asking a judge to be more lenient because Buck was sexually abused as a child and developed his drug addiction as the result of a medical condition. Buck retired at 32 to the city of West Hollywood, known for its large LGBTQ community, where he lived in a rent-controlled apartment and donated over $500,000 to mostly Democratic causes since 2000.
Community members and activists rallied outside Buck’s apartment, calling for his arrest, but he remained free. Family members and Jasmyne Cannick, a political strategist, complained that Buck escaped prosecution because of wealth, political ties and race.