An intimate gathering was held Tuesday, Jan. 7 at West Hollywood Park to honor the 1-year anniversary of 55-year-old fashion consultant Timothy Dean’s passing.
“They say time heals everything, but even after one year, the pain of losing Timothy Dean is still real and hard for those who knew and loved him,” public affairs strategist Jasmyne Cannick said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon.
On January 7, 2019, Dean was the second gay black man found dead from an overdose in Ed Buck’s apartment. Gemmel Moore faced a similar fate as Dean in July 2017, but no lawsuits were filed.
At the memorial event, Dean’s friends spoke about their memories of him. Friends said that Dean loved to travel and play basketball. He was a sharp dresser and lighthearted.
“Tim is very dramatic, very loving, very caring,” one friend said during the memorial. “No one’s perfect, and he didn’t try to be. He was just Tim. To have him taken away in such a public way — this is something that we will live with forever. There are media people out there who will go after what Tim did instead of who Tim was… This man was loved.”
Many felt they hadn’t been able to mourn properly due to the sensationalized and public nature of Dean’s death.
“No one, none of us – no matter who you were or what you might have mistakenly done … no one deserves to … die the way that Gemmel [Moore] and Tim died,” one friend said during her speech at the memorial. “No one deserves to be taken from the ones that love him in that way… And then to be vilified in the news. Tim can not have died for nothing. So that man [Ed Buck] has to go down.”
The memorial ended with a chant to create peace and strength for Buck’s alleged victims. Moore’s bother Jerome Kitchen, who was at the memorial, led the crowd:
“Say his name,” Kitchen shouted.
“Gemmel Moore!” The crowd chanted back three times.
“Say his name,” Kitchen said again. “Timothy Dean!”
Buck is in federal custody after a third man claimed he OD’d in Buck’s apartment and survived. Buck is currently awaiting trial in August. He was arrested on September 17. After being taken to Los Angeles County Superior Court last month, he was evicted from his West Hollywood apartment, effective December 31.
