An Argentine court drops charges against three people tied to the death of singer Liam Payne

Court in Argentina drops charges against three in Liam Payne death case, two remain in custody for drug charges.

A court in Argentina dropped charges of criminal negligence against three of the five people indicted in connection with the death of Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer who fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last October, according to a ruling obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.

In its decision issued Wednesday, the Argentine federal appeals court ordered the other two defendants in the case to remain in custody. They are facing prosecution on charges that they supplied the famed British boyband star with narcotics.

The ruling drops charges against three key defendants: Rogelio Nores, an Argentine businessman with U.S. citizenship who had accompanied Payne during his trip in Buenos Aires; Gilda Martin, the manager of the CasaSur Hotel in the trendy neighborhood of Palermo where Payne died on Oct. 16; and Esteban Grassi, the hotel’s main receptionist.

The charge of negligent homicide carries a sentence of one to five years in prison in Argentina.

A toxicology report from tests taken after an autopsy revealed that Payne, 31, had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he fell from the balcony.

Prosecutors argued that Nores had failed to comply with his duties of care by leaving Payne alone while inebriated. The court sided with defense attorneys who contended that Nores had no legal, moral or social duty to care for Payne. He also was outside the hotel at the time of his friend's death.

The two hotel employees, Martin and Grassi, were in the CasaSur Hotel lobby on Oct. 16 when they saw Payne severely intoxicated and decided to take him to his room with the help of others, investigators determined.