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One Year After Liam Payne’s Death, Probe Drags On as Two Suspects Remain Jailed

Prosecutors are still reviewing extensive CCTV and device data before a judge decides whether two detained hotel workers will stand trial.

Overview

  • A UK inquest recorded polytrauma as the cause of death and toxicology found cocaine, alcohol and prescription antidepressants in his system.
  • Hotel employee Ezequiel Pereyra, 22, and waiter Braian Paiz, 25, are charged with supplying cocaine, have been held since January and deny selling drugs, with Paiz saying he used drugs with Payne but took no payment.
  • Authorities are examining roughly 800 hours of CCTV plus seized phones and laptops, no trial date has been set, and one suspect’s phone was reportedly searched months after it was seized.
  • Prosecutors allege the pair supplied drugs at least twice in the two weeks before Payne died and say CCTV shows him asking Pereyra for “seven grams more” on the day of his fall.
  • New photos from hours before the fall were published as Pereyra, speaking from jail, claimed the hotel delayed calling an ambulance, and the anniversary brought £250,000 in donations to Great Ormond Street Hospital and public tributes.