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Liam Payne death inquest: 3 charged over Liam Payne’s death, self-harm ruled out as cause of death
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Liam Payne death inquest: 3 charged over Liam Payne’s death, self-harm ruled out as cause of death

Three people have been charged with “crimes of abandoning a person followed by death, supplying and facilitating narcotics” in connection with the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, Argentina’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Thursday .

The three people charged in connection with Payne’s death include a person who accompanied Payne “daily during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires.” This person was charged with “criminal abandonment of a person, followed by death,” a charge that carries a potential sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison, the Prosecutor’s Office said.

Liam Payne poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of 'Ron's Gone Wrong' at the BFI London Film Festival 2021 in London, Saturday, October 9, 2021.

Liam Payne poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ at the BFI London Film Festival 2021 in London, Saturday, October 9, 2021.

Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

Two other people were charged with the “offence of supplying narcotic drugs”, two counts each. The two accused were a hotel employee believed to have supplied Payne with two supplies of cocaine while he was staying at the hotel and a drug supplier accused of supplying Payne with drug supplies at “two different times on 14 October”. according to the prosecutor’s office.

The inquest into Payne’s death also found that he was “not fully conscious or experiencing a noticeable state of decline or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall”, leading the prosecution to rule out “self-harm of any kind”.

“For the prosecution, this situation would also exclude the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state in which he was, he did not know what he was doing, nor could he understand it.” said the prosecutor’s office.

This is a breaking news update. Stay tuned for the latest on this developing story.

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Police raided the homes of hotel staff after Liam Payne’s death

New details emerged this week in the inquest into Liam Payne’s death.

Authorities are now focusing on three people as persons of interest, according to sources close to the investigation.

Sources told ABC News that authorities have conducted nine raids this week. The raids included the homes of two hotel employees, two escorts and a friend of the pop star.

Police seized possible evidence, including cellphones, marijuana, a hard drive and three laptops.

Investigators also searched hotel staff lockers and checked security footage from the hotel.

RELATED | Liam Payne’s body will be released to his family, police sources say

Multiple sources told ABC News that hotel security cameras show drug buys involving a hotel employee and a drug dealer.

Payne fell from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Argentina on October 16.

Photos of the singer’s hotel room after his death showing a broken TV and drugs scattered around a table.

An autopsy revealed that a dangerous cocktail of drugs was in Payne’s system when he died.

Police are actively looking for the drug dealer.

Payne had long been open about his struggle with addiction.

In July 2023, he posted a video saying he was sober six months after receiving treatment.

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