Argentina files charges over the death of One Direction star Liam Payne – DW – 08/11/2024

Argentine prosecutors said Thursday three people have been charged over the death of British singer Liam Payne.

The former One Direction star fell to his death in a shocking incident at a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires last month.

Authorities said the three arrested included a suspected drug dealer, a hotel employee who may have supplied Payne with cocaine and someone close to the singer.

The hotel employee and drug dealer is accused of supplying Payne with cocaine during his stay. The person who visited Payne is also charged with “abandonment of a person resulting in death,” prosecutor Andres Madrea said.

The names of the defendants were not released, but authorities said they were banned from leaving the country.

Under what circumstances did Payne die?

The 31-year-old singer was staying at a hotel in the upscale Palermo district of Buenos Aires.

Shortly before his death, a hotel employee called 911 to say he was behaving aggressively and may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Witnesses told local media they saw Payne smash his laptop in the hotel lobby on the day of his death.

A prosecutor’s statement said an autopsy report found traces of cocaine, alcohol and prescription antidepressants in Payne’s body.

The autopsy revealed that he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding as a result of the fall. It was revealed that his injuries were not caused by self-harm or by others.

Payne’s body was flown back to England and given to his father Geoff. He leaves behind his parents and two sisters as well as a 7-year-old son.

Why was Payne in Argentina?

Payne was part of the hugely successful British boy band One Direction, which declared an indefinite hiatus. He and his former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson went on to pursue solo careers.

Payne had attended Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires on October 2, two weeks before his death.

The allegations made in the Payne case bear some similarity to the case of US sitcom star Matthew Perry. Perry’s close friend also provided him with ketamine in his final months, leading to an overdose and his subsequent death a year ago.

Similar allegations were made in the 2018 case of rapper Mac Miller, who died of an opium overdose.

tg/wd (AP, Reuters)