Who are the 5 accused in the death of Liam Payne

Five people have been formally charged with the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne, who fell from the third floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16th.

According to the Argentine Public Ministry, Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi, respectively the manager and receptionist of the establishment, and Roger Nores, a friend of Payne, were indicted for manslaughter and Ezequiel Pereyra, who also worked at the hotel, and Braian Paiz, a waiter, for supplying drugs to Payne.

Under Argentine law, evidence gathered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office is presented to a judge, who decides whether or not the case should proceed to trial.

According to the agency, judge Laura Bruniard made the decision to take the case to the next phase last Friday (27).

As there is still an appeal, the trial actually begins only when the defendants’ lawyers speak out and any appeals they filed are assessed.

In court documents, Judge Bruniard listed the charges against the five suspects, identified by initials, as is customary in court documents at this stage of the process.

EDP, a hotel employee, is suspected of having sold cocaine to Liam Payne on October 15th and 16th.

The BNP waiter is also suspected of selling cocaine to Liam Payne twice on October 14.

Payne’s friend, RLN, is suspected of manslaughter for allegedly “failing to fulfill his duties of care, assistance and aid” to the singer after having “abandoned him to his fate, knowing that he was incapable of defending himself and knowing that he [Payne] suffered from multiple addictions.”

The GAM hotel manager is suspected of manslaughter for allegedly failing to prevent Payne from being taken to his hotel room moments before his death. According to court records, given Payne’s condition, the room’s balcony posed a “serious threat” and the manager should have ensured that Payne was kept in a safe location until medical help arrived.

The ERG head receptionist is also suspected of manslaughter for allegedly asking three people to “drag” Payne, who was unable to stand, to his room instead of keeping him safe. Judge Bruniard said she did not think Liam Payne’s friend, hotel manager and receptionist “had planned or desired Payne’s death” but that their actions created a “risk” to his life.

If found guilty, the three could face sentences of one to five years in prison.

The sentence for drug supply is more severe and varies between 4 and 15 years in prison.

Judge Bruniard ordered that the two accused of supplying the drugs be detained.

They were ordered to appear in court within 24 working hours.

In November, the prosecutor’s office reported that toxicological tests revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant in Payne’s system. He further stated that medical reports suggested that the singer could have fallen into a state of semi or total unconsciousness and that, therefore, he would have ruled out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act.

The investigation concluded that Payne did not know what he was doing and had no understanding of his actions.

The autopsy indicated the causes of death as “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage”, resulting from the fall from the hotel balcony.

Speaking to American celebrity news channel TMZ, Roger Nores said he was a “great friend” of the singer and that they spent time together on the day the star died.

He said Payne “seemed playful and happy” when he last saw him, about an hour before the musician fell from the balcony.

The police found substances in the singer’s room and found that objects and furniture had been damaged.

Hotel staff made two calls to emergency services saying there was a guest there who had taken “a lot of drugs and alcohol” and was “trashing the entire room”.

Payne became one of the best-known names in pop after appearing on The X Factor and rising to fame with boy band One Direction in the 2010s, before the band went on an indefinite hiatus in January 2016.

The singer’s funeral was held in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last month.

His former bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were in attendance, as was his former bandmate Cheryl Cole, with whom he has a son.