Hotel employee accused of selling drugs to Liam Payne surrenders

A hotel employee is accused of supplying drugs to pop star Liam Payne before his death, according to reports from Argentine officials.

Nearly three months after the former One Direction star plunged to his death in Buenos Aires, 21-year-old hotel employee Ezequiel Pereyra reportedly turned himself in to police on Monday evening. The prosecutor’s office confirmed that Pereyra negotiated his handover through his lawyer TMZ. Prosecutors investigating Payne’s October death say Pereyra was one of two people who repeatedly supplied the singer with cocaine during his stay at the CasaSur Palermo hotel.

Payne died on October 16 after falling from a hotel balcony. He was 31 years old. A preliminary autopsy revealed Payne died as a result of numerous injuries and internal and external bleeding caused by a fall.

In November, officials announced When Payne collapsed and died, he had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system.

News of Pereyra’s transfer came a week after Argentina’s National Criminal and Prison Prosecutor’s Office announced in a Spanish-language report statement that Judge Laura Bruniard prosecuted five people for their alleged involvement in Payne’s death. Officials said the hotel employee (then called “EDP”) ia Payne’s representative (referred to as “RLN”) were one of the five suspects.

At the end of December, the prosecutor’s office charged a hotel employee “EDP” and a restaurant waiter (identified as “BNP”) with supplying drugs to Payne. Prosecutors accused Pereyra of supplying cocaine to Payne on October 15 at 3:25 a.m. and on October 16, the day of the singer’s death, between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Officials say Payne used cocaine during his stay at the hotel. The “X Factor” alum died two weeks after arriving in Argentina, where he attended a concert by Niall Horan, his former One Direction bandmate, on October 2.

Pereyra and the waiter who allegedly supplied Payne with cocaine were remanded into custody. In December, the prosecutor announced that Payne’s representative and two hotel managers were charged with unintentional manslaughter without pretrial detention.

According to Argentine newspaper La Nacion, Pereyra confessed shortly after detectives arrested the waiter reported Tuesday. Police also reportedly entered Pereyra’s home before his surrender but were unable to locate him.

Payne was buried in November at a private funeral ceremony northwest of London. In addition to the singer’s relatives, his former One Direction collaborators: Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson appeared at the gala. emotional service. The day after Payne’s death, One Direction posted on social media statement remembering the artist “Teardrops”.

“The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever,” the band said.