Argentine police arrest 3 in connection to pop star Liam Payne’s death

Nov. 7 (UPI) — Three people have been arrested in connection with the death of pop star Liam Payne, the superstar member of boy band One Direction, Argentinian authorities said Thursday.

Payne, 31, plunged to his death from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires Oct. 16th.

Argentinian prosecutor Andrés Madrea’s statement reports that, during the investigation into Payne’s death, “illicit conduct was discovered from which three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics.”

The report stated that someone who was with Payne daily while he was in Buenos Aires is charged with abandoning a person following death. It also said an employee of the hotel is accused of supplying Payne with cocaine twice while he stayed at the location. A third person is accused of supplying drugs to the singer twice during his stay on Oct. 14, the statement read.

The names of those detained have not been released.

In the last 72 hours prior to his death, Payne had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant drug in his system, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor’s office reported that Payne’s death was caused by “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage” resulting from the fall from the third-floor hotel balcony.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Forensic doctors noted that since Payne “did not adopt a reflex posture” to protect himself during the fall, “it can be inferred that he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”

Witnesses and hotel workers say the pop star had been exhibiting dangerous and disruptive behavior minutes before the fall. Hotel staff called 911 after he “overindulged in drugs and alcohol” and was “breaking the whole room.”

“The guest is in a room that has a balcony, and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the caller said, according to audio obtained from local media by Telemundo.

Payne was part of the wildly popular U.K. pop band that also included Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. The band has been on hiatus since Payne’s death.