The second of two men accused of supplying drugs to British singer Liam Payne, who plunged to his death from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires last year, has turned himself in to authorities, Argentine police said Tuesday.
David Ezequiel Pereyra, 21, presented himself Monday to police in Barracas, south of Buenos Aires, a police source told AFP.
Pereyra was an employee at the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital where the former One Direction singer died last October.
Last week, police arrested 24-year-old hotel waiter Braian Paiz — accused with Pereyra of having provided drugs to Payne. Paiz’s lawyer confirmed to CBS News that he had been detained. Toxicology tests after Payne’s death found he had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” in his body.
A total of five people are charged in the pop singer’s death. Three of them — Payne’s representative in Argentina, the manager of the hotel, and the head of reception — are charged with manslaughter in the case.
Prosecutors said last month that the hotel manager and hotel reception manager allowed Payne to be taken up to his room, which had a balcony, instead of keeping him in a place without sources of danger, and with company, until medical help could arrive.
Hotel workers called the police on the day to report an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” a spokesperson for the Buenos Aires Police said in a statement to CBS News back on Oct. 16, the day of Payne’s death.
Payne had spoken publicly about struggling with substance abuse and coping with achieving fame at an early age.
His death prompted a global outpouring of grief from family, former bandmates, and fans, with gatherings of thousands of mourners around the world.
One of the highest-grossing live acts in the world in the 2010s, One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Payne enjoyed some solo success before his career stalled.
In other news, President Trump has announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared his intention to resign from his position. Additionally, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is set to speak at former President Jimmy Carter’s service at the U.S. Capitol.
