Gaymon's Family Still Has Not Scheduled NJ Trip As Demands For Answers Grow

Though gay and civil rights organizations continued Tuesday to call for more communication between community members and law enforcement after the shooting of DeFarra "Dean" Gaymon, members of his family in Georgia have not yet made plans for a trip to New Jersey, though they have promised to come to the Garden State to seek answers in the controversial shooting.

Sheila Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Gaymon family, told Patch on Tuesday that she had just talked with Rev. George Gaymon, Dean Gaymon's father, earlier in the day. "They have not scheduled the trip to that area yet," she said. "Everyone is trying to get beyond the burial [in South Carolina on Saturday] and get back to their homes. As soon as they are ready to come up, I will inform you."

Gaymon, an Atlanta CEO who was in New Jersey to attend a Montclair High School reunion, was shot on Friday, July 16 in Newark's Branch Brook Park in an area known for gay cruising. Over the weekend, an unidentified law enforcement official as well as a Web site identified the man who shot and killed Gaymon as Essex County Sheriff's Officer Edward Esposito.

"We feel that in the aftermath of this occurrence, our responsibility as a community in Newark and in Essex County is to ensure that we collaboratively commit ourselves to the establishment and maintenance of safe spaces in which personal well-being is not threatened and personal identity is not infringed by social, cultural, or regulatory impediments," said Bryan M-C Epps, CEO of the Newark Pride Alliance.

Yesterday, leaders from the City of Newark's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Advisory Commission (LGBTQ) community convened. They said they want improve the areas of public health, public safety, and public spaces to make them safe places for all people. Participants at this meeting included leadership from the LGBTQ Concerns Advisory Commission, Newark Pride Alliance, Newark-Essex Pride Coalition, Liberation in Truth Unity Fellowship Church, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Project WOW-North Jersey Community Research Initiative, Garden State Equality, and Femworks.

More details about the community response will be presented to the public at a meeting of the LGBTQ Commission scheduled at 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 12 at Newark City Hall.

Further, local leaders say they plan to meet next week with Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura in an effort to get key facts and developments surrounding the case. They said they also  want to create a dialogue with the Sheriff's department about how certain law enforcement tactics and practices at Branch Brook Park and elsewhere may disproportionately affect Newark's LGBTQ community.

Epps reiterated the need for "measured responses that will ensure the safety of and respect for community members in all public spaces."

When contacted, Essex County officials said they could not comment on a case that is under investigation.

Because Essex County officials have not released further details about Esposito or the investigation,  some critics to call for the case to be handed over to the New Jersey Attorney General or  the U.S. Department of Justice.

"This is an important development. It is outrageous that the Essex County Sheriff and Prosecutor still refuse to identify the officer who shot DeFarra 'Dean' Gaymon and caused his death," said Bill Dobbs, a New York City-based gay community activist. "The public's right to know has been seriously compromised, which is a reason the investigation into Gaymon's killing should be done by the New Jersey Attorney General rather than locals."

"Whatever sexual orientation was involved here, this in the end, is a killing at the hands of the police," he said. "And so it will be hard to get answers as none of this adds up."

Deborah Jacobs, executive director for the ACLU-NJ, also has called on the State Office of Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation of the shooting death.

"Considering the seriousness of the incident, and many unanswered questions, this investigation demands the legitimacy that only an external review can provide," Jacobs said. "The public's confidence in this investigation depends on whether the professionals undertaking it operate independently, outside of the county structure."

Jacobs told Patch on Tuesday that she hopes the tragedy will lead to more dialogue between the community and law enforcement and county officials.

"Perhaps they will cease doing sting operations [in the park] if they are doing sting operations," she said. "Perhaps they will start doing things like having a greater uniformed police presence or have more lighting ... using different tactics."

Normally the State Division of Criminal Justice - which is under the state Attorney General's supervision - assigns the County Prosecutor's Office to carry out investigations pertaining to an officer-involved shooting. However, the ACLU-NJ believes the Division of Criminal Justice should cede the investigation instead to the experts at the Shooting Response Team, who can add greater accountability to the inquiry.

Meanwhile, Gaymon's funeral was held over the weekend. Here is Gaymon's obituary. And here is an article on Gaymon's death from The State, a newspaper in South Carolina where Gaymon was buried on Saturday.

Both Garden State Equality (GSE) and Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey (GRAANJ) also have written a letter to Essex County Sheriff Fontura calling for a complete and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding Gaymon's shooting.

"First, we ask you immediately to inform us and our colleagues in Newark–including the LGBTQ Advisory Committee, City of Newark, and the Newark Pride Alliance–whether the killing was part of a sting operation in the park targeting gay men specifically or LGBT people specifically," the letter said. "If so, we ask you to cease and desist such operations in Branch Brook Park, and any others like it in Essex County."

The name of the law enforcement official who identified Esposito cannot be used because he is not authorized to speak on the record about the case. Esposito's name is also cited on the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition's Facebook page as the officer who shot and killed Gaymon.

Essex County Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Kevin Lynch has referred all questions about the shooting to Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Carter has only said that she would release information about the officer at a later time.

Esposito is believed to have tussled with and killed Gaymon in Branch Brook Park in Newark after coming upon Gaymon as he was engaged in a public sex act and after Gaymon allegedly tried to solicit sex from the officer. The officer said that Gaymon made threats against the officer's life.

The shooting has sparked outrage from Gaymon's family members in Suwanee, Georgia, about 30 miles outside Atlanta, who have vehemently denied the allegations that Gaymon was involved in illicit sex in the park. Gaymon, a 1980 graduate of Montclair High School, lived with his wife, Mellanie, who he met in high school, and their four young children.

Esposito, who is 29 and an eight-year veteran of the sheriff's department, was honored at the end of National Police Week in May by the Essex County Sheriff's Department along with other officers and civilians for going above and beyond the call of duty last year.

Receiving the highest honor was Officer Anthony Horton, who was shot in the leg on Nov. 19, 2009, while trying to thwart an attempted carjacking. After Horton was shot, a prosecutor's office detective and three sheriff's officers chased down the suspects involved in the incident and arrested them. The four men—including Esposito—were awarded medals of merit. County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo also participated in the ceremony.

Esposito used to be DiVincenzo's driver, an assignment he was given by the Essex County Sheriff's Office. Anthony Puglisi, Essex County's Public Information Officer, did not comment about whether Esposito was involved in the shooting, or remark on his assignment as DiVincenzo's driver. DiVincenzo also has not commented.

The shooting, like all incidents involving a shooting by a police officer, will be handed over to a grand jury for investigation. The family and others have questioned why Gaymon was shot in the chest and not in the leg or other limb so that he might only have been incapacitated.