The young Argentine Braian Paiz was detained on Friday in the context of the judicial case for the death in October of the well-known British singer Liam Payneformer member of the band One Direction, in a hotel in Buenos Aires.
Paiz, 24 years old and who met Payne as a waiter in a restaurant in a luxurious neighborhood of Buenos Aires, had been prosecuted days ago with preventive detention by Judge Laura Bruniard accused of having supplied the musician with cocaine the day before his death on October 16. This crime carries a penalty of four to 15 years in prison.
Three other men and a woman were prosecuted by the judge as part of the investigation.
The singer died after falling from the balcony of his room on the third floor of the hotel where he stayed for three days in Buenos Aires, which caused him multiple blows and internal and external bleeding. Toxicological studies revealed that there were traces of alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant in his body.
After processing him on December 29, the magistrate had given Paiz 24 hours to turn himself in, which he did not do, and he was finally apprehended on Friday at his home in a town near the capital, he informed The Associated Press a capital official familiar with the investigation who did not want to identify himself because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
The other defendants are, on the one hand, David Ezequiel Pereyra, 21, who was an employee at the hotel where Payne died and is also accused of having supplied him with cocaine hours before his death. His home was raided by the police, who were unable to locate him.
In addition, the American Rogelio “Roger” Nores, the artist’s representative and who resides in Argentina, is charged. He is accused of manslaughter, which provides a penalty of one to five years in prison for anyone who, due to recklessness or negligence, in their duties, causes the death of another. The magistrate did not request his arrest, but prohibited him from leaving Argentina.
The other defendants, also charged with manslaughter, are Gilda Martín, the manager of the hotel where Payne died, and Esteban Grassi, head of reception at the hotel establishment. They remain free.
Both were in the hotel lobby when they noticed Payne’s state of health, who, according to the judge, “could not stand up” due to drug use and with the help of third parties they decided to take him to his room, where there were a balcony that was a “source of risk.”
Payne visited Buenos Aires to attend his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert on October 2.
Payne joined Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in one of the most successful “boy bands” of recent times. One Direction announced an indefinite “hiatus” in 2016 and Payne, like his former bandmates, continued his solo career.
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