(NewsNation) — Three people were charged in connection to the death of singer and former One Direction member Liam Payne, according to a news release from prosecutors in Argentina.
“Ilicit 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,” the release posted Thursday read.
Payne, 31, died in October after he fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.
Pablo Policicchio, spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, told The Associated Press that police were dispatched to Payne’s hotel in response to an “emergency call about an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
Arriving, police heard a thud and found Payne’s body in the hotel courtyard, Policicchio said.
One of the accused is a hotel employee who allegedly gave Payne cocaine, and another person is also suspected of supplying the singer with drugs. The third who was charged “accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires.”
“From the beginning of the investigation and within a few days, exhaustive and meticulous actions and measures were taken to clarify the circumstances surrounding the artist’s death,” the prosecutor’s office said.
This includes analyzing more than 800 hours of video footage from the hotel’s security cameras and public roads. Several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members and friends, medical professionals, biochemists and psychiatrists were heard by authorities as well.
Toxicology tests revealed that Payne, at the time of his death, had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system, the prosecutor’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office said Payne’s death was caused by “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage.” Injuries Payne had were compatible with those caused by a fall, and because he did not “adopt a reflex posture … it can be inferred that he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Last weekend, Payne’s body was delivered to his father, Geoff.
Liam Payne remembered
Payne was one of five members of One Direction. The band was created in 2010 when each member auditioned separately for the British singing competition series “The X Factor.”
Though they failed to make it through the television competition as solo acts, Simon Cowell and his fellow judges grouped Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson into what would become a successful boy band.
Known for hits like “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction had six Top 10 hits on the Billboard charts when they broke up in 2016.
Payne’s first solo single was “Strip that Down,” featuring rapper Quavo. It was a Top 10 hit in Britain in 2017. A debut album, “LP1,” was released in 2019.
Teen Vogue reported that Payne reunited with One Direction in Argentina last month for a Niall Horan concert. He was open about struggling with his mental health and spent time in rehab for alcoholism.
Payne had a 7-year-old son with the former “Girls Aloud” singer Cheryl.
“I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing,” Styles, 30, posted on Instagram after Payne’s death. “His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honor to be alongside him as he did it.”
“Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious. He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend,” Styles added.
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NewsNation digital producer Liz Jassin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.