close
close

3 people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction star Liam Payne in Argentina

Prosecutors in Argentina have charged three people in connection with the former defendant’s death One direction singer Liam Payne, officials said Thursday.

Payne, 31, died Oct. 16 when he fell from a balcony of the Hotel Casa Sur Palermo in Buenos Aires.

A person who authorities say spent time with Payne every day while he was in Buenos Aires is charged with abandonment of a person followed by homicide, a charge that carries a prison sentence of five to 15 years, according to a news release from will be punished The Argentine Prosecutor’s Office for Crime and Correctional Services published a statement on Thursday.

Argentina Liam Payne
A picture of former One Direction singer Liam Payne sits surrounded by flowers and candles as fans gather outside the hotel where he was found dead after falling from a balcony.

Natacha Pisarenko / AP


The other two defendants are accused of supplying Payne with drugs, including cocaine, and are each charged with two counts of supplying narcotics. Officials did not say what the sentence might be for that charge.

One of those charged with supplying narcotics was a hotel employee, the public prosecutor’s office said. The three defendants had been informed of the charges, the prosecutor’s office said, and had been banned from leaving the country.

None of the suspects have been identified by name.

The press release also states that Payne died as a result of a fall and did not jump from the balcony. Officials had not previously confirmed which version of events had taken place, but prosecutors said Payne was likely “not fully conscious or in a state of noticeable unconsciousness or unconsciousness” at the time of the fall.

“For the public prosecutor, these facts would also rule out any conscious or voluntary act by the victim,” the public prosecutor’s office explained.


One Direction members react to Liam Payne’s death

04:03

The Examination included Nine raids on homes in the area and dozens of interviews with hotel staff, Payne’s family and friends, and experts in the fields of medicine, biochemistry and psychiatry, prosecutors said. Investigators also reviewed more than 800 hours of video footage from the hotel and public streets and conducted a forensic analysis of Payne’s cellphone to verify his digital footprint in the period leading up to his death.

An autopsy was also carried out. Afterwards, Payne’s body was returned to his father, Geoff Paynewho had been in Argentina since the day after his stay Death of the son.

Toxicology tests conducted as part of the autopsy showed Payne had “only traces” of drug use in his system. There were “traces” of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant, the prosecutor said. Medical experts determined that Payne only sustained injuries from his fall.

All of the information collected by investigators was summarized in a 180-page report presented to Judge Laura Bruniard, who is overseeing the criminal cases. Bruniard agreed to the charges against the three people, but the investigation will continue, prosecutors said, as investigators continue to try to access Payne’s other personal devices.

You may also like...