An Argentine judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of the band One Direction, and ordered two of them to be remanded in prison on charges of supplying him with drugs.
A judicial official on Monday confirmed the judge’s decision and said that one of the two people he ordered placed in preventive detention — a form of pretrial detention — was an employee of the hotel in Buenos Aires where Payne stayed until his death after falling. The balcony of his room in October.
The other person was a waiter Payne met at a restaurant, the officer said. The officer, who requested anonymity as a condition to talk about the sentence, said they both face drug supply charges and must appear before a judge.
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The judge also charged three other people with manslaughter, including a businessman who was with Payne in Argentina and two hotel managers. The official said that no order was issued to detain them in preventive prison.
In November, prosecutors brought preliminary charges against three people, but did not reveal their names.
Payne fell from the balcony of his room on the third floor of the hotel where he resides in the upscale Palermo neighborhood in the Argentine capital. His autopsy said he died of multiple injuries and external bleeding.
Prosecutors also said that toxicology tests conducted by Payne showed that his system had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant” in the moments before his death.
Payne’s autopsy showed that his injuries were not caused by self-harm nor by the physical interference of others. The document also stated that he had no reflex to protect himself in the fall, suggesting he may have been unconscious.
Prosecutors in Argentina also ruled out the possibility that Payne died by suicide.
One Direction has been among the most successful boy bands of recent times. She announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016, and Payne – like former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – pursued a solo career.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
