Three people have been charged in connection to the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, an Argentine prosecutor’s office said on Thursday (November 7).
The British pop star died on October 16, at the age of 31, after falling from the third-story balcony of his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
During the investigation into Payne’s death, “illicit conduct was discovered from which three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics,” prosecutor Andrés Madrea said in a statement seen by NBC News.
One person who was with Payne daily has been charged with the abandonment of a person following death. Meanwhile, a hotel employee is accused of supplying Payne with cocaine and a third person is accused of supplying drugs to the singer. They are both charged with supplying narcotics on two occasions during his stay, Madrea said.
Payne was discovered to have had “multiple substances” in his body at the time of his death, an initial autopsy report stated. One of the substances reportedly included “pink cocaine” – a recreational drug that typically includes a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA, per the National Institutes of Health.
Investigators found what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol and broken furniture strewn across his hotel room.
Before his death, the desk manager at the hotel made a 911 call to the emergency services saying that a guest drunk “on drugs and alcohol” was “breaking everything in the room.”
During the call, the manager asked for urgent medical and police support because they “don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger.”
“We need you to send us someone urgently because, well, we don’t know if the guest’s life is at risk,” they said. “He is in a room that has a balcony. And well, we’re a bit afraid that he does something that could put his life at risk.”
Authorities have since launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, with authorities having carried out nine different raids this week.
The raids included the homes of two hotel staff, two escorts and a friend of the “Strip That Down” singer, ABC7 reported.
Police have reportedly confiscated several items of interest, including cellphones, marijuana, one hard drive, and three laptops.
The singer, who shot to fame as a member of the British boy band One Direction, is survived by his parents, his two older sisters, and his seven-year-old son, Bear.
