Argentinian authorities have dropped charges against three people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer who fell from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires in October.

The three people – a friend of Payne’s and two employees at the hotel where he died – had been accused of negligence in the singer’s death.

But two other men are still facing prosecution on charges that they supplied Payne with drugs.

A toxicology report said that Payne (31) had cocaine, alcohol and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died October 16th, according to a statement from the local prosecutor’s office. The statement suggested that his death was not a suicide because of the determination that Payne fell in a state of unconsciousness.

The three people who no longer face prosecution in Payne’s death are his friend Rogelio Nores and two employees of the hotel where Payne died, the CasaSur Palermo Hotel: the manager, Gilda Martín, and the chief receptionist, Esteban Grassi. All three had faced charges of negligence.

On Wednesday, Argentina’s Court of Appeals issued a ruling that reversed the decision to charge Nores, Martín and Grassi, who were accused in December of failing in their duty of care to help Payne.

Judge Laura Bruniard initially charged them with negligence, noting that footage from the hotel showed that Payne was unable to care for himself and that the three of them should have kept Payne away from danger until he received medical care.

But the appeals court disagreed, ruling this week that the court could not prove the three defendants contributed to Payne’s death, that taking Payne to his hotel room did not constitute a crime and that Nores had not been responsible for ensuring Payne’s safety.

The three were never ordered into custody, unlike the two defendants accused of supplying narcotics to Payne. The negligence charges carried a sentence of one to five years in prison.

“Glad this is finally over,” Nores told Rolling Stone. “I’m happy I’m now going to be able to travel to the UK and say goodbye to my friend.”

Prosecutors could still appeal the decision to drop the charges.

A CasaSur Palermo Hotel employee, Ezequiel Pereyra, and a local waiter, Braian Paiz, still face prosecution for supplying narcotics to Payne in the days leading up to his death.

Paiz and Pereyra were arrested after Bruniard said preventive detention was needed; the charge they face carries a sentence of four to 15 years in prison.

Paiz’s lawyer, Fernando Madeo, said in December that his client was not guilty and that he would be appealing the charge. He objected to his client being detained before trial, calling it absurd. “There is no danger of flight,” he said.

A toxicology report from tests taken after an autopsy said that Payne had cocaine, alcohol and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died, the prosecutor’s office announced. Authorities said he received at least four supplies of narcotics during his four-day stay at the hotel.

Forensic experts determined from the autopsy that he had died from falling from a balcony and that there were no signs of anyone else’s involvement. The prosecutor’s office said that the autopsy report indicated that Payne died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding” in the skull, chest, abdomen and limbs.

A 911 call was made moments before his death.

Buenos Aires police released a recording of a 911 call that was placed minutes before Payne’s death. A man who identified himself as the hotel desk manager said on the call that a guest who appeared to have excessively consumed drugs and alcohol was “breaking everything in the room”.

The manager requested urgent assistance because the room had a balcony and hotel employees were “afraid he could do something that puts his life at risk”.

The prosecutor’s office said investigators found broken objects and furniture in his hotel room, as well as what appeared to be narcotics and alcohol. – The New York Times