Judge allows charges to proceed against 5 people in connection with Liam Payne’s deathJudge allows charges to proceed against 5 people in connection with Liam Payne’s death

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

An Argentinian judge is allowing charges against five people allegedly associated with the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne to move forward.

The Argentinian Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Monday that Judge Laura Bruniard allowed the charges against the five individuals to proceed in a decision on Dec. 27. A trial date will be set in January, according to sources.

Those charged include a hotel employee and a waiter who allegedly supplied narcotics to Payne before he fell to his death from the third floor balcony of his hotel room at Hotel Casa Sur in Palermo, Buenos Aires, on Oct. 16.

The hotel manager and receptionist who were on duty at the time of Payne’s death have also been charged with manslaughter.

ABC News has reached out to the hotel for comment.

Payne’s friend, Rogério Nores, who allegedly traveled to Argentina with the singer and was allegedly present at the hotel and left before the singer was taken to his hotel room, has also been charged with manslaughter. Nores was previously charged with abandonment of a person followed by death before that charge was lowered, prosecutors said.

Nores, a dual U.S. and Argentine citizen, is forbidden from leaving the country, a police source and prosecutor’s office source told ABC News.

Nores has denied any involvement in Payne’s death, telling MailOnline in a statement last month, “I never abandoned Liam.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.