Rogelio 'Roger' Nores, a close friend of Liam Payne, has refuted allegations that he deserted the former One Direction member before his tragic death.
Roger has reportedly rejected suggestions that police raided his Buenos Aires home and insists he is not implicated in the ongoing investigation.
However, three individuals have been detained in connection with the singer's death and are currently under formal investigation in Argentina. It is suspected that one of the arrested is a "friend" of the late musician, although their identity remains undisclosed.
Liam met his untimely end after plummeting from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires last month, aged just 31.
The Argentinian public prosecutor's office has charged one of the individuals who was with Liam at the time with "abandonment of a person followed by death" an offence that could result in up to 15 years behind bars.
Speaking out against the accusations, Roger told reporters: "I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened."
In a statement to Mail Online, he further expressed his grief and shock: "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... I'm really heart-broken with this tragedy, and I've been missing my friend every day."
A hotel employee and another individual have been charged with supplying drugs to the British singer who was staying at the hotel. Prosecutors have also dismissed any third-party involvement or self-harm in Liam's death, according to a forensic psychiatric report, reports the Mirror.
The prosecutors stated: "Although other medical background information from the victim's clinical history must still be analysed, the phenomenon of the lack of defence or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall."
Liam's body was returned home earlier this week ahead of his funeral, which is expected to take place on Friday in his hometown of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. He died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall, according to a post-mortem examination.
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His body was discovered in the hotel's internal courtyard. Meanwhile, at least nine raids have been conducted on properties in Buenos Aires, and some of Liam's devices are still under analysis, said the prosecutors.
Prosecutors have stated that "exhaustive and meticulous measures were taken to clarify the circumstances" surrounding the death of the former One Direction star. The tragic event, which occurred on Wednesday, October 16, prompted fans worldwide to hold vigils, while fellow musicians paid their respects.
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