Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a balcony on Thursday, October 17, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his photo displayed on a memorial outside a hotel. Natasha Pisarenko/AP Hide caption
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Natasha Pisarenko/AP
BUENOS AIRES — Argentine prosecutors announced Thursday that they have charged three people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of the music group One Direction, who died last month after falling from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room.
Prosecutor Andres Madrea, whose identities have not been disclosed, indicted the three suspects on charges of “abandonment and death” and “facilitating the supply and use of narcotics,” prosecutors said. Madrea also asked Judge Laura Bruniard to arrest them and ruled that the three cannot leave the country.
Payne fell from the balcony of her third-floor hotel room in an upscale residential area of Palermo, Argentina’s capital. An autopsy revealed that he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding.
Prosecutors also said toxicological tests on Mr. Payne showed his body had “traces of alcohol, cocaine, and prescribed antidepressants” shortly before death.
Investigators said hours after Payne’s death that she was alone when she collapsed. However, the prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that one of the people charged had often been with the singer during his stay in Buenos Aires. The second man, a hotel employee, allegedly gave Mr Payne cocaine during his stay between October 13th and 16th. The third person is a drug dealer.
The charges in Ms. Payne’s case have some similarities to the U.S. case arising from the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry a year ago. The actor’s personal assistant and longtime friend is among those charged with helping supply him with ketamine in the final months of his life leading up to his drug overdose.
Three young men were also charged in the 2018 opioid overdose death of rapper Mac Miller.
Local authorities collected evidence including Payne’s cell phone records and forensic and witness documents. They have not yet unlocked the singer’s computer (which was damaged) and other confiscated devices.
An autopsy on Payne revealed that his injuries were not caused by self-inflicted injury or physical intervention by another person. The documents also say he had no reflexes to protect himself during the fall, suggesting he may have been unconscious.
Argentine prosecutors also ruled out the possibility that Mr. Payne committed suicide.
One Direction is one of the most successful boy bands of recent times. Announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2016, Payne pursued a solo career, along with former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.
The singer posted on his Snapchat account that he was in Argentina to attend Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires on October 2nd. He shared a video of himself and his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, dancing and singing together in the stands. Cassidy left Argentina after the show, but Payne remained in Argentina.
