Argentine Court Drops Charges Against 3 People Tied to Death of Singer Liam Payne

A picture of former One Direction singer Liam Payne is surrounded with flowers and candles as part of a makeshift memorial outside the hotel where he fell from a balcony to his death, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 17, 2024. Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—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.