3 charged in connection with One Direction star Liam Payne's death in Argentina
Prosecutors in Argentina have charged three people in connection with the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, officials said on Thursday.
Payne, 31, died on October 16 when he fell from a balcony of the Casa Sur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires.
One 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 death, a charge that carries a sentence of five to 15 years in prison, according to a news release from Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office released Thursday.
The other two charged are accused of supplying Payne with drugs, including cocaine, and have been charged with two acts each of supplying narcotics. Officials did not say what the sentence for those charges could be.
One of the people charged with supplying narcotics is a hotel employee, the prosecutor's office said. The three people charged have been notified of the charges, the prosecutor's office said, and have been prohibited from leaving the country.
None of the suspects were identified by name.
The release also stated that Payne died from a fall, and had not jumped from the balcony. Officials had not previously confirmed which version of events had happened, but the prosecutor's office said that Payne was likely "not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness" at the time of the fall.
"For the prosecution, this situation would also rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim," the prosecutor's office said.
The investigation included nine raids on homes in the region and dozens of interviews with hotel staff, Payne's family and friends and experts in the fields of medicine, biochemistry and psychiatry, the prosecutor's office said. Investigators also reviewed more than 800 hours of video footage from the hotel and public roads and conducted a forensic analysis of Payne's cell phone to review his digital footprint in the period leading up to his death.
An autopsy was also conducted. After that, Payne's body was returned to his father, Geoff Payne, who had been in Argentina since the day after his son's death.
Toxicology tests conducted as part of the autopsy showed that Payne "only had traces" of drug use in his system. There were "traces" of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant, the prosecutor's office said. Medical experts found that Payne only had injuries from his fall.
All of the information gathered by investigators was summarized into a 180-page report presented to Judge Laura Bruniard, who oversees criminal cases. Bruniard approved the charges against the three people, but the investigation will continue, the prosecutor's office said, as investigators continue to try to access Payne's other personal devices.
