Three people charged in connection to Liam Payne's death
Three people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction member Liam Payne, Argentinian officials have said.
Liam Payne.
The singer died on October 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.
Mike Marsland/WireImage
According to the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office, one individual who accompanied the artist has been charged with abandonment followed by death, as well as drug supply and facilitation.
A hotel staff and a third individual have also been charged with narcotics distribution. None of those detained have been identified.
Payne, 31, a father-of-one, was one of the most known names in pop after competing on The X Factor and rose to stardom with the boyband One Direction in the 2010s.
Argentinian officials have been examining Payne's final days at the CasaSur hotel.
After the singer's death, authorities found narcotics in his hotel room, and destroyed artifacts and furnishings. Hotel personnel had made two calls to emergency services reporting they had a visitor who had taken "too many drugs and alcohol", and was "trashing the entire room", it was previously reported.
On Thursday, the public prosecutor's office announced that toxicology testing found residues of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body.
A post-mortem investigation found that his death was caused by "multiple trauma" and "internal and external haemorrhage" as a result of his fall from the hotel balcony.
According to the prosecutor's office, medical reports indicated that Payne may have slipped into a condition of semi- or complete unconsciousness.
The prosecutor's office say this rules out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act by Payne, and they conclude he did not know what he was doing nor did he understand it.
In addition, investigators have conducted nine raids at properties in Buenos Aires.
They are also continuing to investigate Payne's shattered laptop and other gadgets confiscated.
The prosecutor's office stated that it had reviewed over 800 hours of video footage from security cameras in the hotel and on public highways, as well as dozens of testimony from hotel employees, family members, friends, and medical experts.
The singer's body was handed to his family on Wednesday and transported back to the United Kingdom.
Following Payne's death, condolences poured in, notably from his former partner Cheryl, One Direction colleagues, and music mogul Simon Cowell.
Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Harry Styles, Payne's bandmates, announced in a joint statement that they were "completely devastated" and will miss the singer "terribly," adding that the moments they shared with him will be treasured forever.
Thousands of fans remembered the late singer during memorial gatherings in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.
