Buenos Aires, Nov 7 (EFE).- Argentine prosecutors on Thursday charged three people in the death of British singer Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, who died on Oct. 16 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires.
«Three people have been charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person resulting in death, and supply and facilitation of narcotics,» the 14th National Prosecutor’s Office for Criminal and Penitentiary Matters said.
The charges, indictment, and arrest warrants followed an extensive investigation that included dozens of witness interviews, analysis of more than 800 hours of hotel and street camera footage, Payne’s cell phone, and other forensic analysis.
One of the defendants was Payne’s travel companion during his stay in Buenos Aires, another is an employee of the hotel where he died, and the third is described as a «drug supplier.»
The prosecution also reported that the results of toxicology tests showed that «in the moments before his death and during at least the last 72 hours, Payne had traces of poly-drug use of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed anti-depressant.”
The reports submitted to the district attorney’s office concluded that «all of Payne’s injuries were consistent with a fall from a height.»
The forensic report ruled out self-inflicted injuries of any kind and physical intervention by third parties.
The report also confirmed initial findings that the musician did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself during the fall, so «he could have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.»
The analysis ruled out the possibility of «a conscious or voluntary act» given that «in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing, nor could he understand it.»
Authorities added that the investigation must continue as the inspection of the victim’s devices is still ongoing.
The body of the former One Direction member was flown to London from Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires. EFE
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