At least four men who claim to have information that will help officers investigating the overdose death of Gemmel Moore have been granted immunity, according to an attorney involved in the case.

Gemmel Moore, 26, died July 27 of a methamphetamine overdose at the home of Ed Buck, a well-known donor in local and LGBT political circles, in the 1200 block of North Laurel Avenue.

Initially, an investigation by responding deputies from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station revealed no suspicions of foul play. The cause of death was determined to be an accidental overdose.

LaTisha Nixon (left) asked the West Hollywood City Council “for justice” after the death of her son Gemmel Moore (right). (photo courtesy of Jasmyne Cannick)

However, after Moore’s family voiced concerns through local media about circumstances surrounding his death, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau assigned investigators to review the case.

Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on whether immunity was granted.

Attorney Nana Gyamfi said she made a request for immunity with the district attorney’s office on behalf of Moore’s mother. Gyamfi said the agreement was necessary to ensure four people with information about Buck and his interactions with Moore and other young, black, gay men would feel safe talking to police.

At least some of the men coming forward have previously been arrested multiple times. Although the drug-related and solicitation crimes they allegedly committed with Buck could be prosecuted as misdemeanors, without an immunity agreement, there’s a chance they could be charged with felonies, she said.

“The reality is, whatever immunity agreement they have is clearly not going to cover if they were part of a murder of Gemmel Moore,” Gyamfi said. “This is not TV. This is not a TV show. This is real life, and in real life, if people have the ability to go in and talk to law enforcement with an attorney, they do that.”

Buck’s attorney Seymour Amster said his client is innocent and that a “character assassination” is being waged against Buck.

Amster said it was irresponsible of Gyamfi to announce that immunity was granted, and in his 35 years as a criminal defense attorney, he has never made that type of announcement.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of an attorney announcing immunity being given to her clients,” Amster said. “Let them go in and be interviewed by the police. This whole thing is being tried in the press and not with law enforcement and the courts.”

In late August, Moore’s mother LaTisha Nixon went before the West Hollywood City Council and asked for council members help in granting immunity in the case.

Nixon has joined advocates in asking Democratic candidates to give back money that Buck gave their campaigns.

An online fundraising page for Moore’s family was created to raise money for Nixon as she travels from her home in Texas to California to work on her son’s case.

“Gemmel loved life and lived every moment of it even through the ups and downs,” the page reads. “He gained lifelong friendships across the country because of his genuine, humorous and loving personality.”