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Argentinian prosecutors charge 3 people in connection with former One Direction star Liam Payne’s death
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Argentinian prosecutors charge 3 people in connection with former One Direction star Liam Payne’s death

BUENOS AIRES — Three people have been charged in the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne, who fell from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires last month, Argentine prosecutors said Thursday.

Prosecutor Andrés Madrea charged the three suspects, whose identities were not disclosed, with “abandonment and subsequent death” and “procuring narcotic substances and facilitating their use.” Madrea also requested the detention of judge Laura Bruniard, who ruled that the three could not leave the country.

Payne fell from the balcony of his room on the third floor of his hotel in the luxurious district of Palermo, the capital of Argentina. His autopsy said he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding.

Prosecutors also said Payne’s toxicology examination showed he had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system in the moments before his death.

Investigators said Payne was alone when he fell hours after his death. But the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that one of the accused people was often with the singer while he was in Buenos Aires. The second is a hotel employee who allegedly gave Payne cocaine during his stay between October 13 and 16. The third is a drug dealer.

The charges in Payne’s case are similar to U.S. cases involving the death of Friends star Matthew Perry a year ago. The actor’s personal assistant and a former friend are among those accused of helping supply him with ketamine in the final months of his life, which led to him suffering an overdose of anesthesia.

All three young men were similarly charged in the 2018 death of rapper Mac Miller from an opioid overdose.

Local authorities collected Payne’s cell phone records, forensic materials and statements, among other evidence. They have yet to unlock the singer’s damaged personal computer and other seized devices.