Argentine Justice releases two accused of providing cocaine to Liam Payne before his death

Buenos Aires .- The Argentine Justice released Braian Nahuel Paiz and Ezequiel David Pereyra this Wednesday, two accused of providing cocaine to the British singer Liam Payne in the days before his death in a Buenos Aires hotel, and ordered measures for them to await trial on bail while the investigation is completed.

According to sources from the case who informed EFE, Judge Karina Andrade, head of Criminal, Contraventional and Misdemeanor Court number 15 of the City of Buenos Aires, ordered the release of both young people after several months of house arrest while the investigation progressed. Pereyra's lawyer, Augusto Cassiau, told EFE that his client was released after the judge ruled out the risk of flight and the possibility of intimidating witnesses. According to Cassiau, the judge "took into consideration that she is young, that she has worked all her life and that she needs to work". We recommend reading: However, the lawyer clarified that Andrade imposed strict restriction measures on both defendants to protect the final stage of the judicial investigation in the run-up to the oral trial they will have to face. Fernando Madeo Facente, Paiz's lawyer, celebrated his release this Wednesday through social media and published a photo of his client in freedom.The death of Liam Payne Paiz met the musician in a restaurant in the Puerto Madero neighborhood, where he worked as a waiter. Pereyra was an employee of the CasaSur hotel and had acted as an intermediary. Liam Payne died on October 16, 2024, at the age of 31 after falling into an interior patio of the CasaSur hotel in the city of Buenos Aires after having consumed, during the three days he stayed there, significant amounts of alcohol and cocaine that he combined with antidepressants. The autopsy revealed that the singer's death was caused by "multiple injuries" and "internal and external bleeding," and the analyses ruled out self-inflicted injuries or the physical intervention of third parties. The experts concluded that the former One Direction member did not protect himself in the fall, so they inferred that "he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness." You can also read: In the legal case regarding Payne's death, five people were prosecuted, three of whom - Rogelio Nores, his manager and friend; Gilda Martín, the hotel manager; and Esteban Grassi, head of reception - were acquitted in February 2025.