A judge has shared details of Liam Payne’s final hours as the Argentinian Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed five have been charged over the singer’s tragic death
A judge has revealed the final moments of Liam Payne‘s life as five individuals have been charged in connection with the One Direction star’s tragic death by the Argentinian Public Prosecutor’s Office. Two people face charges for drug supply, while three others are accused of negligent homicide, a charge similar to manslaughter in the UK.
This follows the heartbreaking incident where Liam fell from his room at the CasaSur Palermo hotel on October 16. Among those charged is Roger Nores, a friend of the singer, and staff members from the hotel including chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and head of security Gilda Martin.
Waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, 24, and hotel worker Ezequiel David Pereyra, 21, stand accused of selling drugs to Liam. In Argentina, supplying drugs can lead to a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, while negligent homicide can result in one to five years behind bars.
The judge and public prosecutor have released a statement detailing Liam’s last hours, describing his death as “foreseeable”. Court documents reveal that Liam had been requesting drugs and alcohol during his hotel stay and was left “unable to stand” on October 16 due to the “consumption of various substances”.
It was also alleged that the singer was “dragged” to his room by the receptionist and two other individuals, and that the manager permitted this to occur “at least by omission”, reports the Mirror.
The judge suggested that given Liam’s access to the balcony and his “altered consciousness”, the “proper thing to do was to leave him in a safe place and with company until a doctor arrived”. His friend Nores was accused of leaving Liam alone in the hotel in a “state of vulnerability”, despite knowing about his past addiction issues and not trusting the hotel staff to act appropriately.
Liam tragically died at 31 after falling from his hotel room’s third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires. A report on November 7 from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office found traces of “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system.
Officials ruled out suicide, stating that “in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing and could not understand it”. The report suggested that the father-of-one, whose death has been linked to a substance-induced “psychotic episode”, “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself in the fall, so that, for the moment, it can be inferred that he may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”
A new document released today hypothesised that Liam had “tried to leave the room through the balcony and thus fell”.
Earlier this month, reports emerged that Roger Nores had dodged questions from an investigating judge looking into the singer’s death. Nores has fiercely refuted allegations that he left his mate in the lurch before he took a fatal fall from his balcony, following claims he was ‘acting up’ in the hotel lobby.
Hotel staff placed two frantic 911 calls before Liam was discovered dead. A caller, believed to be the head receptionist, claimed they had a guest who had overindulged in “too many drugs and alcohol” and was “trashing the entire room”, only for the call to abruptly end.
In a follow-up call, the same voice expressed fears for the guest’s safety due to the presence of a balcony in the room, pleading with the operator to dispatch help “urgently”. In a TMZ documentary probing into Liam’s untimely demise and last moments, which aired earlier this month, Mr Nores insisted his buddy was ‘in good spirits and perfectly balanced’ on the day he passed away.
Before the documentary hit screens, he stated: “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.”