Identity of Essex County Officer Who Shot Atlanta CEO Revealed

By Alicia Cruz

The New Jersey Newsroom

Citing "unnamed law enforcement sources" the online publication Montclair.Patch.com has published the identity of the undercover Essex County sheriff’s officer who fatally shot a prominent CEO of an Atlanta credit union in Branch Brook Park earlier this month.

The officer, Edward Esposito, 29 of Morris County, is a detective and eight year veteran with the Essex County Sheriff's Department. The Star-Ledger also confirmed the detective’s identity, also citing unnamed law enforcement officials who were not authorized to speak on the matter, NJ.com reported.

Reports say Esposito shot DeFarra "Dean" Ivan Gaymon on July 16 in Branch Brook Park in Newark after the officer attempted to place Gaymon under arrest. ABCNews.com reported that Esposito was approached by Gaymon, who was "engaged in a sex act" alone, and when Esposito displayed his badge and attempted to place him under arrest, the 48-year-old man "appeared to panic, assaulted the police officer and fled," said Prosecutor Robert Laurino.

Gaymon, who was unarmed, allegedly pushed Esposito to the ground and threatened to kill him, according to Laurino, citing the officer's statement to investigators, then "lunged at and attempted to disarm the officer while reaching into his own pocket."

It was then that Esposito, "fearing for his life," shot the man, who later died from a single gunshot wound to his abdomen. Gaymon was in New Jersey attending his 30th class reunion at Montclair High School.

Esposito, who was working undercover at the time, was patrolling the park with another officer as part of a sheriff's detail to crackdown on public sex in the park. Gaymon was allegedly masturbating and soliciting sex when he approached the Detective.

In May, Esposito, along with three fellow officers, was awarded a medal of merit for his part in trying to break up an attempted carjacking in November 2009. He was also, at one point, the driver for Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, who attended the award ceremony.

Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating the shooting, said the office was not releasing the officer's name now, but was expected to in the coming weeks. She added that a Grand Jury would decide on the case.

Gaymon, who grew up in Montclair, was married with four children, was visiting New Jersey from his home in Suwanee, Georgia to attend a reunion later that evening, which he planned.

His family has disputed Esposito's version of events releasing a statement to The Atlanta Journal Constitution that described Gaymon as a "a nonviolent, non-aggressive and non-threatening person."

His sister, Kelly Gaymon Armstrong, said, "I do not believe that story. Not one bit. That is not my brother's character."

"We know that the police killed an innocent man, with no history of or disposition towards violence," the Gaymon family said in their statement, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

" It would have been completely and totally against his nature to 'tussle' with a police officer, to resist authority, to assault a police officer...Words such as 'I am going to kill you' would not be uttered from him," the family statement read.

Several of Gaymon's family members are expected to travel to New Jersey this week to speak to investigators.

The ACLU of New Jersey has reportedly submitted a request that the state attorney general conduct an independent investigation into the shooting and gay rights organization, Garden State Equality, has filed requests with Essex County law enforcement officials asking for documents related to the shooting. Gaymon, who died at University Hospital three hours after the incident, was laid to rest in South Carolina.

The Gaymon shooting was the fifth police-involved shooting in Essex County in a month. There have been nine police-related shootings in the County so far this year, including the six that were fatal, The Gwinnett County News reported.

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