Liam Payne’s friend Rogelio Nores has denied abandoning the late pop star before his death.
The former One Direction star died last month aged 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, and now Nores – known as Roger – has spoken out in an emotional statement and denied being a suspect.
Three suspects have been arrested and are under formal investigation over Payne’s death, with one of them being an unnamed ‘friend’.
Nores had been with the singer in the days before his died, but he has rubbished suggestions he is the individual charged with ‘abandoning a person followed by death’.
The person in question has also been charged with being complicit in the supply of drugs.
In a statement, Nores told MailOnline: ‘I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel 3 times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.
‘There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.’
He added that he gave a statement ‘to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness’, but hasn’t spoken to authorities ‘ever since’.
‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager he was just my very dear friend and please refer to the email I sent to Liam and his team on August 23,’ he continued.
‘I’m really heart-broken with this tragedy, and I’ve been missing my friend every day.’
Payne, who found fame on The X Factor as a teenager in 2010, fell from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died immediately.
Authorities have been investigating the circumstances around his death, and nearly one month on, two hotels workers are among the three detained.
On Thursday, Argentina’s public prosecutor released a statement to confirm the three had been formally charged with ‘abandonment of a person followed by death, supply, and facilitation of narcotics’.
They said the crimes were punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years on conviction.
The office of prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea added that ‘Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall’.
Payne, whose cause of death was multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding from the fall, reportedly had traces of cocaine in his system when he died.
He is survived by seven-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with Girls Aloud singer and ex-partner Cheryl.
At the time of his death, Payne was dating Kate Cassidy, 25, while his surviving bandmates, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles, all expressed their sorrow.
Also in a joint statement shared to their dormant social media accounts (One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2015), the group wrote: ‘We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing.’
They added: ‘The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us.’