Liam Payne: Prosecutors say five people will be charged in connection with the One Direction star’s death

CNN
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Five people have been charged in connection with the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne in Argentina, the country’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

The British singer fell to his death from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires in October. He was 31.

A person identified as Payne’s “representative” as well as the hotel manager and front desk manager were charged with manslaughter, prosecutors said. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.

A hotel worker and a local waiter have also been charged with supplying Payne with cocaine during his stay, and the judge has ordered them jailed before their trial. You face up to 15 years in prison.

The court did not reveal the identity of the defendants, apart from their professional role in relation to the victim.

Payne had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system before his death, Argentine prosecutors said last month.

The judge in charge of the case, Laura Bruniard, concluded that Payne, due to his state of intoxication, confused the hotel room balcony with a possible exit and when he tried to go over the balcony, he lost his life in an unplanned fall.

Citing evidence from expert reports, witness statements and footage from cameras at the hotel, the judge said Payne was in the hotel lobby in an obviously drunken state minutes before his fall on October 16.

“At 4:54 p.m. that day, Liam Payne was lying unconscious in reception at Casa Sur and was dragged to his room by three people,” Bruniard said.

The hotel manager is accused of witnessing the moment Payne was in the lobby and “at least by omission” of allowing the victim to be moved to a room with a balcony, “which posed a source of danger to Payne.” said the judge.

The receptionist is accused of leading a group of three people who dragged Payne from the lobby into the room. “The conduct that should have been carried out was to keep him safe in a non-hazardous area, with company and until he received medical attention,” the judge also concluded.

Payne’s representative is accused of leaving the hotel 50 minutes before Payne’s fall, despite being aware of the singer’s danger. The defendant “failed to fulfill his duties of care, assistance and assistance,” the prosecutor’s statement said, “and abandoned (Payne) to his fate, knowing full well that he was incapable of caring for himself “that the defendant suffered from multiple addictions.” The representative, an American, was banned from leaving Argentina.

Although the hotel manager, receptionist and representative are accused of manslaughter, the judge found that they did not act together or in a planned manner.

For those accused of supplying narcotics, Bruniard has ordered them to serve preventive detention.

Payne had spoken openly about his substance abuse issues and mental health. In the summer of 2023, Payne said he was sober for six months after completing treatment at a US facility. Payne’s tour was scheduled to begin in South America in September of that year, but he had to postpone the planned dates after suffering from a kidney infection.

Payne’s death shocked the music world. He achieved worldwide fame as part of One Direction, one of the biggest British boy bands of all time was founded in 2010 on the British X Factor. The group, which included members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, announced an “indefinite hiatus” in 2016.

The four former bandmates attended Payne’s memorial service in Amersham, northwest of London, at the end of November. Music mogul Simon Cowell, who led the group’s formation on The X Factor, was also present at the service.

Shortly before his death, Payne was seen in Argentina at his former bandmate Horan’s concert.

On the night of October 16, staff at the hotel where Payne was staying requested urgent police assistance. In a 911 call obtained by Argentine CNN affiliate Todo Noticias, a police employee told police: “We have a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol… He’s ruining the place. “He’s tearing the whole room apart.”