Three Arrested and Charged in Connection with Singer Liam Payne’s Death

Three individuals are in custody in Argentina in connection with the death of singer Liam Payne. One has been charged with abandonment, while the other two face accusations of supplying and facilitating the drugs, including one individual who was reportedly a hotel employee.

Payne, a former One Direction star, died on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.

One of the individuals who was with the singer has been charged with abandonment of a person followed by death, as well as the supply and facilitation of drugs, according to the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office.

A hotel employee and another person have also been charged with supplying and facilitating drugs. The identities of those arrested have not been disclosed.

The 31-year-old Payne, a father, was one of the most recognizable figures in pop music, having risen to fame on The X Factor and as part of One Direction in the 2010s. Argentinian authorities have been investigating his final days at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires.

Following Payne’s death, police discovered drugs, destroyed objects, and damaged furniture in his hotel room. Staff had made two emergency calls, reporting that a guest had consumed “too many drugs and alcohol” and was “trash[ing] the entire room.”

On Thursday, the public prosecutor’s office released the results of toxicology tests, which showed traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s system.

A post-mortem examination confirmed that the cause of death was “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage” resulting from the fall. The prosecutor’s office also noted that medical reports suggested Payne may have fallen while in a state of semi-consciousness or complete unconsciousness.

This, they said, rules out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act, concluding that Payne did not know what he was doing at the time.

Liam Payne’s body was released to his family on Wednesday, November 6, to be returned to the UK.