Prosecutors investigating the death of Liam Payne have ruled out that the late singer died by suicide, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office in Argentina said in a press release Thursday.
However, three people were charged Thursday in connection to Payne’s death, as prosecutors believe the suspects engaged in illegal activity that may have contributed to the pop star’s untimely passing.
Prosecutors charged Payne’s “friend” — whose identity has not been disclosed but reportedly identified himself as the singer’s manager — with abandonment for allegedly breaching his duty of care.
Police reportedly tried to reach the businessman after Payne died via a cellphone he had given hotel staff but he did not pick up officers’ calls.
Payne’s death investigation is ongoing, but his cause of death has been attributed to the multiple traumas, internal and external bleeding he sustained as a result of his fatal fall.
In a press release on Thursday, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office stated that prosecutors looking into the death of the late singer Liam Payne have ruled out the possibility that the singer committed suicide.
Officials stated that they made this choice after determining that Payne was probably unconscious when he died in October after falling from a third-story balcony of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. 16 because the “self-preservation reflex” was absent. “.”.
They came to the conclusion that Payne was not “fully conscious” or was in a state of “decrease or loss of consciousness,” and thus did not fall on purpose, based on that information as well as “other relevant data” regarding the quantity of drugs he took prior to his death, as mentioned in his toxicology report.
In a statement translated from Spanish to English, the prosecutor’s office stated that this circumstance would “rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing nor could he understand it.”.
In a prior statement, officials stated that they did not believe anyone pushed the “Night Changes” singer because they thought he was by himself in his hotel room when he fell and died.
However, three people were charged Thursday in relation to Payne’s death because prosecutors think the suspects may have been involved in illegal activities that led to the pop star’s premature death.
For allegedly failing to uphold his duty of care, prosecutors accused Payne’s “friend,” whose identity has not been revealed but who allegedly claimed to be the singer’s manager, of abandonment.
Following Payne’s death, police allegedly attempted to contact the businessman using a cellphone he had provided to hotel employees, but he did not answer. It is also alleged that he neglected to notify Payne’s family about his drug relapse.
According to the press release from the prosecutor’s office, the friend could spend five to fifteen years behind bars.
A man who is rumored to have spent the troubled star’s last hours with him, Rogelio “Roger” Nores, has attempted to disassociate himself from the allegations, asserting on Thursday that he “never abandoned” Payne.
An unidentified hotel worker and a suspected drug dealer are the other two suspects who are accused of giving Payne drugs.
According to his toxicology report, the singer of “Story of My Life” used pink cocaine, a drug cocktail that is usually combined with ecstasy, ketamine, caffeine, and a psychedelic, prior to his passing.
Investigators’ photos of his ruined hotel room also revealed drug paraphernalia, including clonazepam—a medication used to treat panic disorders, epilepsy, and involuntary muscle spasms—strewn across a table.
Investigators are also looking into two women who claimed to be prostitutes and testified under oath that they shared alcohol with Payne in his hotel room in the hours before he passed away.
Investigators are looking into what else the escorts may have lied about after Argentine news outlet La Nación reported Thursday that one of them was allegedly unable to provide a direct response when asked if the “Strip That Down” singer or a hotel employee had invited them to the CasaSur Hotel.
Although Payne’s death is still being investigated, his numerous injuries and internal and external bleeding from his tragic fall have been identified as the cause of death.
Page Six exclusively revealed on Wednesday that the “What Makes You Beautiful” signer’s father, Geoff Payne, had flown his body to England for burial.
