The second defendant in the case of One Direction lead singer's death has been detained in Argentina

Argentine law enforcement authorities have detained hotel employee David Esequiel Pereira, who is the second defendant in the case of the death of former One Direction band member Liam Payne. This was reported on January 7 by the online portal Infobae.

"The second of the accused on remand for the death of Liam Payne has been arrested," the publication stated.

According to the online portal, Pereira provided drugs to the musician on the day of his death and turned himself in to the police. For the supply of illegal substances, the hotel employee received $100.

On January 3, Argentine law enforcement agencies detained waiter Brian Pais, accused of selling drugs to Payne. Judge Laura Graciela Bruñar placed him in preventive detention and gave him 24 hours to turn himself in. The 24-year-old man accused of supplying the drugs is also subject to a $5 million embargo.

Former One Direction lead singer Liam Payne died at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires on October 16, 2024. The ambulance arrived at the hotel, from the balcony of which the singer fell out, seven minutes after the call, but doctors were unable to save the artist. It was noted that before the incident, police were informed of an "aggressive male" who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

On the same day, the Marca tabloid reported that police found a broken TV and some kind of powdery substance in Payne's room. In the bathroom, there were candle burns and traces of soot. It was also revealed that the singer had suffered a fracture to the base of his skull in the fall and could not be saved. Later, the prosecutor's office pointed to the unconscious state of Payne in the fall.

December 30, it became known that the court in Argentina accused five people of involvement in the death of Payne: The victim's representative Rogelio Nores, who also accompanied Payne on a trip to Buenos Aires to re-obtain a US visa, CasaSur Hotel manager Gilda Martin and hotel front desk manager Esteban Reynaldo Grassi, charged with manslaughter, as well as waiter Brian Pais, with whom the singer met in the Puerto Madero area, and hotel employee Esquel Pereira, where the musician stayed.