A court in Argentina dropped charges of criminal negligence against three of the five people indicted in connection with the death of Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer who fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last October, according to a ruling obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.
According to 9 News, the Argentine federal appeals court ordered the other two defendants in the case to remain in custody. They are facing prosecution on charges they supplied the famed British boyband star with narcotics.
The ruling drops charges against three key defendants: Rogelio Nores, an Argentine businessman with US citizenship who had accompanied Payne during his trip in Buenos Aires; Gilda Martin, the manager of the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel where Payne died on October 16; and Esteban Grassi, the hotel’s main receptionist.
Signs and flowers are displayed in honor of Liam Payne at Casa Sur Hotel on October 17, 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to the Buenos Aires police department, Payne fell from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Palermo, a famous neighborhood in Buenos Aires.
The charge of negligent homicide carries a sentence of one to five years in prison in Argentina.
A toxicology report from tests taken after an autopsy revealed that Payne, 31, had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he fell from the balcony.
Prosecutors argued that Nores had failed to comply with his duties of care by leaving Payne alone while inebriated. The court sided with defence attorneys who contended that Nores had no legal, moral or social duty to care for Payne. He also was outside the hotel at the time of his friend’s death.