BUENOS AIRES — Three people have been charged in the death of Liam Payne, the former One Direction member who died after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires last month, prosecutors in Argentina said Thursday.
Prosecutor Andrés Madrea charged the three suspects, who have not yet been identified, with “abandonment followed by death” and “providing and facilitating the use of drugs,” the prosecutor's office said. Madrea also asked for their arrest so that Judge Laura Bruniard decided that the three would not leave the country.
Payne fell from the balcony of his room on the third floor of his hotel in the upscale area of Palermo, Argentina's capital. An autopsy said he died of multiple injuries and external bleeding.
Prosecutors also said Payne's toxicology tests showed her body had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant prescribed” before her death.
Investigators said several hours after his death, Payne said he was alone when he fell. The prosecutor's office said that one of the people charged used to meet the singer when he was in Buenos Aires. The second is a hotel employee who allegedly gave Payne cocaine during his stay between October 13 and 16. The third is a drug dealer.
Similar cases in the US stem from the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perr last year. The actor's assistant and longtime friend are among those charged with helping to administer ketamine to him in the final months of his life, which led to his admission to psychiatric treatment.
Three young men were charged with the same crime in the opioid-overdose death of rapper Mac Miller in 2018.
One Direction has been among the most successful boy bands in recent times. It announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and Payne – like former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson – pursued a solo career.
The singer had written on his Snapchat account that he went to Argentina to attend Horan's concert in Buenos Aires on Oct. 2. He shared videos of himself dancing with his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, and singing along to the stands. Cassidy had left Argentina after the show, but Payne stayed behind.
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