Two men accused of supplying drugs to former One Direction singer Liam Payne just hours before his fatal fall from a hotel balcony will face trial, Argentinian prosecutors have confirmed.
Braian Nahuel Paiz, 25, a restaurant waiter, and Ezequiel David Pereyra, 24, a former hotel employee, have been in custody since early January.
They stand accused of selling cocaine to the British musician, who died on October 16, 2024, after falling from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
The Little Things hitmaker was a beloved UK musician after rising to fame alongside his former bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles on The X Factor in 2010.
In a statement released by Argentina’s public prosecution service, Prosecutor Andrés Esteban Madrea confirmed the pair would go to trial, facing potential prison sentences of up to 15 years if convicted of drug trafficking offenses.
‘Braian Nahuel Paiz, who met Payne while working as a waiter in Puerto Madero, and Ezequiel David Pereyra, a former employee at the hotel where the incident occurred, are charged with the crime of selling drugs,’ the statement read.
Forensic investigations revealed Payne had consumed cocaine through both snorting and smoking shortly before his death.
An autopsy showed he died from severe polytrauma and internal and external bleeding, and toxicology reports detected a combination of substances in his system, including cocaine, alcohol (at 2.7 grams per litre), methylecgonine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene, and the antidepressant sertraline.
‘The toxicological analysis confirmed Liam Payne had ingested cocaine at least 72 hours before his death and possibly as recently as a few minutes before falling from the hotel balcony,’ authorities said.
Three other individuals initially charged in connection with Payne’s death – his close friend Rogelio Nores, hotel receptionist Esteban Grassi, and head of hotel security Gilda Martin – were cleared of wrongdoing after an appeal overturned a lower court’s manslaughter accusations.
No date has been set for the trial of Paiz and Pereyra, but proceedings are expected to begin soon.
Speaking from his Buenos Aires jail cell in an interview with local outlet Infobae, Paiz denied selling cocaine to Payne, though he admitted to having shared drugs with the pop star. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’m a good person,’ he said. ‘I shared drugs with Liam but I didn’t sell them.’
The young waiter described himself as a longtime marijuana user and expressed regret over the connection he formed with Payne.
‘I regret giving Liam my Instagram because everything spiralled from there,’ he said. ‘If I hadn’t, I’d probably be working or studying today. I miss my freedom, my family, my mom, and my sisters.’
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