Five people charged in connection with death of Liam Payne
Five individuals have been charged in connection with the death of the late One Direction member Liam Payne, according to Argentinian media.
Payne died on October 16th after falling from a balcony on the third floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was later revealed by the prosecutor’s office that his cause of death was due to suffering multiple traumas as well as internal and external bleeding.
Following Payne’s death, an investigation was launched by authorities. In November, they arrested three people in connection to his death. However, these names were not initially released. Now, according to Infobae, the manager of CasaSur, Gilda Martin, and Estaban Grassi, who is an employee of the hotel, have been charged with manslaughter along with Payne’s friend, Roger Nores.
Two more reported hotel workers, Braian Paiz and Ezequeil Pereyra, have been charged with supplying drugs to Payne. In November, a toxicology report revealed that Payne had alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant in his system at the time of his death.
Infobae states that two of the five to have been charged have been remanded in custody ahead of an upcoming court appearance.
In a TMZ documentary regarding Payne’s final hours, Nores, one of the five to have been charged, described him as a “very good friend” and confirmed they were together on the day of the singer’s death.
Nores said: “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.”
Earlier this month, Nores filed a 91-page lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, in his defence after he was accused of abandonment followed by death, which he vehemently denies. In the legal filing, he alleged that Payne had previously been hospitalised on multiple occasions due to drug use. Nores also stated Payne had needed to be resuscitated during two prior incidents.
He alleged in the document: “Because of his addictions, Payne continued to attend rehab centres of his own free will in an attempt to overcome them. Unfortunately, these treatments were not successful and his addiction worsened as he began to use harder drugs, such as heroin.”
Payne’s funeral took place in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, in November.
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