Argentinian prosecutors charge three over death of singer Liam Payne | Al Jazeera News

Toxicology tests show One Direction star had cocaine, prescription drugs and alcohol in his system.

Three people have been charged over the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne’s death, according to the Argentine prosecutor’s office.

Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died, authorities said in a statement.

They have charged someone close to Payne, a hotel employee, and a suspected drug dealer, it was announced on Thursday.

All three are accused of playing a role in giving Payne the drugs. The person who was visiting with Payne is also charged with “abandonment of a person followed by death”, authorities said. They are not naming those who have been charged.

Fall from balcony

Payne, who had a child, died at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony on October 16 in Buenos Aires. He died from multiple injuries caused by the fall. His body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard.

Payne was a member of the popular boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 after its members, Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, had auditioned as solo acts for the television show The X-Factor.

The band was created by the show’s judge, Simon Cowell and shot to international fame. The group had been on hiatus since 2016 as the band members pursued solo careers.

‘Breakdown’

Initial police investigations showed Payne was alone in his room and experiencing a “breakdown”.

Following his death, police found substances in his hotel room, such as packs of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, energy supplements and other over-the-counter drugs strewn among his belongings.

Authorities also recovered a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone from the internal courtyard where Payne’s body was found.

In recent years, Payne had acknowledged struggling with alcoholism, saying in a YouTube video posted in July 2023 that he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment.

Payne’s death sparked an outpouring of grief from his fans and fellow band members.

The Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires, where he died, has become a place for Payne’s fans to pay their respects. They have left flowers, candles and photos of the singer in a makeshift shrine around a tree at the hotel’s entrance.

Payne had travelled to Argentina to see former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan in concert two weeks before he died.