Three people face preliminary charges over Liam Payne’s death in Buenos Aires

By Manuela Castro, Federico Jofré and Abel Alvarado, CNNE

(CNN) — Three people are facing preliminary charges in Argentina for crimes related to the death of Liam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, according to the public prosecutor’s office.

A hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer are among the three individuals being investigated on suspicion of “abandonment of a person before a death, supply and facilitation of narcotics,” Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office also said Thursday.

The British pop star, who was 31, died on October 16 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The late singer had alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system before his death, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

Toxicology analysis indicated that Payne “may have fallen into a state of semi or total unconsciousness,” it said.

The prosecutor’s office also said medical examinations confirmed that the singer’s injuries were “compatible with those caused by falling from a height.” Examinations ruled out self-inflicted injuries or the intervention of other people, the office added.

Argentina has a two-phase legal process, and preliminary charges are part of an investigatory phase. At a later point, a judge may choose to discard or modify the preliminary charges, or to apply formal charges, which are considered equivalent to charges as understood in the United States legal system.

Who is being investigated?

Investigators are launching investigations into the three individuals after gathering and reviewing evidence, which included over 800 hours of video, the office added.

The first individual is someone whom authorities believe spent time with Payne “on a daily basis” during his visit to Buenos Aires. The suspect is being investigated for “abandonment of a person before a death and the supply and facilitation of narcotics.”

The second suspect is a hotel employee who “must answer” for allegedly supplying cocaine to the singer on “two occasions” during Payne’s stay at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, the statement read. The third person is someone believed by authorities to be a “narcotics supplier” and is suspected of providing drugs to the artist on October 14.

It is unclear if any of the three suspects are currently detained.

Payne’s cell phone also underwent a “forensic extraction,” and authorities were able to analyze calls, text messages, chats in messaging and social media apps, the prosecutor’s office wrote.

Authorities believe Payne obtained drugs from “others” at least on four occasions during his stay at the hotel from October 13 to 16, according to the statement. CNN is attempting to reach CasaSur Palermo Hotel for comment.

Investigators had interviewed two female escorts who were with Payne in the hours before his death, a source with knowledge of the case told CNN on Friday. The women, both age 25, stated they did not see Payne use drugs in front of them, but he did consume alcohol, the individual added.

He had spoken openly about his struggles with substance abuse and his mental health. In the summer of 2023, Payne said he was marking six months of sobriety after completing treatment in a US facility. Payne’s tour was set to kick off in South America in September of that year, but he had to postpone the scheduled dates after suffering a kidney infection.

Payne rocketed to global stardom as part of One Direction, the massively popular boyband that was created on the British version of the X Factor in 2010. The group, which included members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, announced an “indefinite hiatus” in 2016.

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