By Florencia Pessarini
Buenos Aires (EFE).- A year after former One Direction member Liam Payne’s death at a Buenos Aires hotel, his family and fans await the start of a trial that will include only two of the five initially charged, both accused of drug dealing, against the wishes of Argentina’s Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Payne, 31, died on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from the third floor of the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
According to the autopsy, he had consumed alcohol and cocaine combined with antidepressants during his three-day stay.
The British singer had arrived in Argentina in late September with businessman Rogelio Nores, who checked him into the hotel and identified himself as a contact person.
Judicial documents state that Nores, acting as Payne’s assistant and manager, knew of his intoxicated and vulnerable condition but failed to seek medical help.
He was initially charged with “abandonment of a person” and later “involuntary manslaughter,” but the charges were dismissed in Feb. 2025.
Payne had traveled to Argentina partly to renew his United States visa and was seen attending a concert by his former bandmate Niall Horan on Oct. 2.
Negligence allegations against hotel staff
Court files show that Payne requested “a trusted number” from Nores to buy drugs, who allegedly asked hotel staff for help instead. Payne was also seen ordering alcohol from early morning hours.
On the day of his death, hotel employees described him as “agitated,” “unsteady,” and “out of control.”
He reportedly broke furniture, repeatedly went down to the reception area, and eventually lost consciousness with a whisky bottle in hand.
Staff members carried him back to his room to rest. “We lifted him because he seemed to have fainted and didn’t want to leave him in the lobby,” one employee testified, saying he waited about ten minutes outside the room before leaving.
Hotel manager Gilda Agustina Martín and reception chief Esteban Reynaldo Grassi were charged with involuntary manslaughter for failing to seek medical assistance.
Grassi’s 911 call at 5:01 pm warned that Payne was in a room with a balcony and might harm himself, minutes before reporting that the singer had fallen.
Prosecutors argued that Martín should have ensured Payne’s safety “in a secure area, under supervision, until medical care arrived.”
However, both hotel staff and Nores were acquitted in February after the court ruled that investigators had shown “manifest arbitrariness” and failed to carry out key forensic and testimonial procedures.
Only two defendants to face trial
The only two men facing trial are Braian Nahuel Paiz, 22, and Ezequiel Pereyra, 25, both in pretrial detention since Nov. 2024 for allegedly selling drugs to Payne.
Paiz, a waiter in Puerto Madero, admitted providing Payne with cocaine but claimed it was a personal encounter, not a sale, saying he “wanted to spend time alone with him.”
Security cameras recorded the pair together for four hours at the hotel. Judges, however, rejected that account after police reported that Paiz’s neighborhood was known for drug trafficking.
Prosecutors maintain that Nores had “influence” over Payne and should have contacted his family or medical services.
Geoffrey Payne, the singer’s father, said his son had stopped using his personal phone to avoid relapse and communicated through Nores, who “was responsible for his care.”
“He was vulnerable, and they left him alone,” said Valeria Riosa of Forever LP Latam, a fan group of 200 members who have kept a flower shrine at the spot where Payne died exactly one year ago. EFE
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