BUENOS AIRES — Three people have been charged in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of the music group One Direction, who died after falling from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room last month, Argentine prosecutors said Thursday. .

Prosecutor Andrés Madrea charged the three suspects, whose identity has not been disclosed, for the crimes of “abandoning a person, followed by death” and “supplying and facilitating the consumption of narcotics”, the prosecutor’s office said. Madrea requested their arrest and Judge Laura Bruniard, who ruled that the three cannot leave the country.

Payne fell from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room in the upmarket Palermo district of Argentina’s capital. His autopsy said he died of multiple injuries and external bleeding.

Prosecutors also said Payne’s toxicology tests showed his body had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” in the moments before his death.

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

The charges in Payne’s case are similar to cases in the US stemming from the death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry a year ago. The actor’s personal assistant and a longtime friend are among those accused of helping to supply him with ketamine in the final months of his life, leading to his overdose of the anesthetic.

Three young men were similarly charged in the 2018 opioid overdose death of rapper Mac Miller.

Local authorities collected Payne’s cell phone records, forensics materials and testimony, among other evidence. They are yet to unlock the singer’s personal computer – which is damaged – and other devices that have been seized.

Payne’s autopsy revealed that his injuries were not caused by either self-inflicted injury or physical intervention by others. The document also said he did not have the reflex to protect himself in the fall, suggesting he may have been unconscious.

Prosecutors in Argentina also ruled out the possibility that Payne committed suicide.

One Direction has been among the most successful boy bands of recent times. He announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016, and Payne – like his former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – pursued a solo career.

The singer posted on his Snapchat account that he traveled to Argentina to attend Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires on October 2. He shared videos of himself dancing with his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, and singing together in the stands. Cassidy had left Argentina after the show, but Payne stayed behind.

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AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

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