An image of former One Route singer Liam Payne adorns a memorial exterior the lodge the place he was discovered useless after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.
Natacha Pisarenko/AP
cover caption
toggle caption
Natacha Pisarenko/AP
BUENOS AIRES — Three individuals have been charged in reference to the demise of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Route who died after falling from the balcony of his lodge room in Buenos Aires final month, Argentine prosecutors mentioned Thursday.
Prosecutor Andrés Madrea charged the three suspects, whose identities weren’t revealed, with the crimes of “abandonment of an individual adopted by demise” and “supplying and facilitating using narcotics,” the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned. Madrea additionally requested their arrest to evaluate Laura Bruniard, who dominated the three can’t go away the nation.
Payne fell from his room’s balcony on the third ground of his lodge within the upscale neighborhood of Palermo, within the Argentine capital. His post-mortem mentioned he died from a number of accidents and exterior bleeding.
Prosecutors additionally mentioned that Payne’s toxicological exams confirmed that his physique had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” within the moments earlier than his demise.
Investigators mentioned hours after Payne’s demise that he was by himself when he fell. However the prosecutors’ workplace mentioned Thursday that one of many individuals charged was typically with the singer throughout his time in Buenos Aires. The second is a lodge staffer who allegedly gave Payne cocaine throughout his keep between Oct. 13 and 16. And the third is a drug supplier.
The fees in Payne’s case bear some resemblance to the U.S. circumstances stemming from the demise of “Mates” star Matthew Perry a 12 months in the past. The actor’s private assistant and a longtime buddy are amongst these charged with serving to provide him with ketamine within the ultimate months of his life, main as much as his overdose on the anesthetic.
Three younger males had been equally charged within the opioid-overdose demise of rapper Mac Miller in 2018.
Native authorities gathered, amongst different items of proof, Payne’s cellphone information, materials for forensics and testimonies. They’re but to unlock the singer’s private laptop – which is broken – and different units that had been seized.
Payne’s post-mortem confirmed his accidents had been neither brought on by self-harm nor by bodily intervention of others. The doc additionally mentioned that he didn’t have the reflex of defending himself within the fall, which suggests he might need been unconscious.
Prosecutors in Argentina additionally dominated out the probabilities of Payne committing suicide.
One Route was among the many most profitable boy bands of current occasions. It introduced an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and Payne — like his former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Kinds, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson — pursued a solo profession.
The singer had posted on his Snapchat account that he traveled to Argentina to attend Horan’s live performance in Buenos Aires on Oct. 2. He shared movies of himself dancing along with his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, and singing alongside within the stands. Cassidy had left Argentina after the present, however Payne stayed behind.
