The second of the two men accused of supplying drugs British singer Liam Paynewho jumped to his death last year from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, surrendered to authorities, Argentine police said Tuesday.
21-year-old David Ezequiel Pereira turned himself in to police in Baracas, south of Buenos Aires, on Monday, a police source told AFP.
Pereira worked at the Casa Sur hotel in the Argentine capital, where the former One Direction singer died last October.
last week, police arrested 24-year-old hotel waiter Brian Pais — accused, along with Pereira, of giving Paine drugs. Paiz's attorney confirmed to CBS News that he had been detained. Toxicology tests after Payne's death showed “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed anti-depressant” in his body.
A total of five people are accused in the death of a pop singer. Three of them — Payne's representative in Argentina, the hotel manager and the front desk manager — are charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors said last month that the hotel manager and front desk manager allowed Payne to be taken to his room, which had a balcony, instead of keeping him out of harm's way and with company until medical help arrived.
Hotel workers called the police that day to report an “aggressive male who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” a Buenos Aires police spokesman said in a statement to CBS News on Oct. 16, the day of Payne's death.
Payne has spoken publicly about his struggles with substance abuse and struggling to achieve fame at an early age.
His death sparked a global outpouring of grief from family, former bandmates and fans, with thousands gathering around the world.
One Direction, one of the top-grossing live acts in the world in the 2010s, went on indefinite hiatus in 2016. Payne found solo success before his career stalled.