Liam Payne's 'heartbroken' friend denies 'abandoning' him as three people arrested

Liam Payne in black suit and shirt at the world premiere of I Am Bold — Liam Payne died last month, aged 31 (Image: Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Liam PayneHer friend Rogelio Nores denied dumping the late pop star before her death.

Former One way star died last month at the age of 31 After falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Nores, known as Roger, spoke emotionally and denied being a suspect.

Three suspects were arrested and are under formal investigation into Payne’s death; one of them is an unnamed ‘friend’.

Nores was by the singer’s side in the days before his death but rubbished claims that he was the person accused of ‘abandoning a person and then going to their death’.

The person was also charged with being an accessory to the supply of drugs.

Nores told MailOnline: ‘I never left Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.

Rogelio Nores, CEO of Stoneway Capital Corp, speaks during the LatinFinance Argentine Financial Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina — Rogelio Nores denied being a suspect in his friend’s death (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Liam Payne performing on stage at WE Day UK 2019 — Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony (Image: John Phillips/Getty Images)

People stand next to memorials left outside the hotel where former One Direction band member Liam Payne was found dead after falling from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room on October 18, 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. — He was staying at CasaSur Palermo (Image: Reuters)

Payne found fame X Factor In 2010, as a teenager, he fell from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died immediately.

Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, and two hotel employees were among the three people detained nearly a month later.

On Thursday, Argentina’s prosecutor released a statement confirming that the three men had been formally charged with ‘abandonment and subsequent death of a person, supply and provision of narcotics’.

They said the crimes are punishable by up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

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Prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea added that ‘Payne was not fully conscious or had a visible loss of consciousness or unconsciousness at the time of the fall.’

It was reported that Payne, whose cause of death was multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding resulting from a fall, had traces of cocaine in his body when he died.