Liam Payne’s death investigation has resulted in three people being charged over his fatal balcony fall.
The 31-year-old former One Direction star plummeted 45ft to his death on 16 October from his third floor room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, and it was reported on Wednesday (06.11.24) police probing his shock passing in Argentina had raided the homes of a “friend” of the performer and two hotel employees.
Argentina’s public prosecutor announced in a statement on Thursday (07.11.24) three individuals have now been charged in connection with the tragedy.
They have been arrested and charged with “abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics”, a statement from the office of prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea confirmed.
It added: “Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.”
The statement also said one of the accused “accompanied the artist on a daily basis” while he was staying in Argentina.
A hotel employee is also accused of supplying Payne with cocaine twice while he stayed at the hotel, the statement said.
And third person is accused of supplying drugs to the singer twice during his stay on October 14.
Mr Madrea confirmed they are both charged with two acts each of supplying narcotics.
The prosecutor’s office added it had heard a string of testimonies and analysed hundreds of hours of CCTV footage in connection with the investigation.
And they said a “forensic extraction” had been carried out on Liam’s mobile, which involved trawls of his calls, messages and social media accounts.
News of the charges broke after it emerged Liam’s body has been flown home to the UK ahead of his funeral, which a source told the MailOnline is going to be at a cathedral “close to his heart”.
The Sun reported Liam’s devastated father Geoff Payne, 66, was on the flight into Heathrow carrying his son’s remains, and reported the body has been transferred to Liam’s home town of Wolverhampton.
