Five people have been charged in connection with the death of Liam Payne.
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office announced that hotel manager Gilda Martin, receptionist Esteban Grassi, who made the 911 call moments before Payne’s death, and the singer’s friend Rogelio “Roger” Nores have been charged with manslaughter, the BBC reported Monday.
Two more hotel employees, Braian Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra, have been charged with supplying drugs to the former One Direction member, who had been in and out of rehab to combat his addiction.
A judge declared that two of the five accused remain in custody and have been summoned to appear in court within 24 hours.
The news came after all five parties made appearances in court in mid-December.
Per the Buenos Aires legal system, after being interrogated, a judge must determine whether those accused will be prosecuted, dropped from the case or if there is no evidence for either decision.
On Oct. 16, the “Teardrops” singer fell to his death from the balcony of his third-story room at Casa Sur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.
Although there were many theories on what could have happened, it was determined that the “Perfect” singer likely tried to climb off the balcony after allegedly being locked inside his room by employees for acting erratically in the lobby.
However, an autopsy report revealed that he passed out along the way and fell, resulting in a cranial fracture and internal and external bleeding.
A toxicology report later determined that the “Night Changes” singer had consumed multiple drugs and alcohol before his death, which could have caused him to faint. Cocaine, crack, a depressant and pink cocaine — a recreational drug that mixes methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and others — were found in his system.
On Nov. 7, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office announced in a press release obtained by Page Six that Nores, Paiz and Pereyra were being charged in connection to Payne’s death.
Nores, who had taken on a manager-like role in the star’s life, was accused of abandonment for allegedly failing to inform Payne’s family that he had relapsed.
The Argentine businessman also allegedly failed to pick up the phone when cops called him over the singer’s death.
Though he has maintained his innocence, he faces a sentence of five to 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Paiz has also denied any wrongdoing, saying he only did drugs with the “X Factor” alum but never brought him any.
Payne was laid to rest on Nov. 20 after an intimate funeral in the UK, which his former One Direction bandmates, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, attended.
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