Lawyers for Liam Payne’s family were in court in Argentina on Tuesday – and a source told Page Six they could bring criminal charges against anyone who contributed to his death.

Page Six has seen documentation showing that music industry veteran attorney Richard Bray, acting on behalf of the family, has transferred his legal interests to a local law firm in Buenos Aires.

This means Payne’s loved ones would now be a named plaintiff in any future criminal case.

It’s the first time Payne’s family has been mentioned in any part of the ongoing investigation into the singer’s death at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16 – and it comes after shocking photos of his final moments were revealed .

A source familiar with the family said they were “100% confident” that Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his siblings would want to seek justice for him.

The 1D star died at the age of 31 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room.

Prosecutors have already charged two hotel employees for allegedly providing him with drugs, and a friend of Payne’s is a person of interest for failing to intervene and come to his aid.

However, the investigation has taken an even darker turn following photos released as part of a police report.

They show what appears to be hotel staff abusing Payne and locking him in his hotel room. Although the timestamps on the images have not been confirmed, it appears that this took place shortly before his death.

Nicolás Durrieu, a criminal lawyer based in Buenos Aires, told Page Six that if this did indeed happen, hotel staff could be charged with “abandoning a person.” In this case, it can probably be considered “aggravated” because a person has died, with a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Charges of “manslaughter” in Argentina carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while anyone convicted of facilitating or distributing drugs could face 12 years in prison.

“The legal system also allows the family to pursue their own private criminal charges and their own investigation,” Durrieu said. “Victims have a lot of power and are independent of the prosecutor. Usually the family goes along with the prosecutor, but not always.”

TMZ reported Monday that security footage and the police report show Payne was trying to escape from his hotel room when he fell. Hotel staff knew he was threatening to use the balcony to escape but left him alone anyway, the outlet reported.

Shocking photos show Payne being disruptive and intoxicated in the hotel lobby as three men carried him to his room minutes before he fell to his death.

However, Payne was apparently conscious and kept his head upright.

Photos, believed to be from surveillance footage, show that when hotel employees took Liam to the hallway of his room, he struggled with them and tried to walk back into the elevator.

A source told Page Six: “It seems clear to me that Liam was trying to go back downstairs, he didn’t want to go to his room.”

Nevertheless, hotel staff used a master key to enter the room and placed Liam inside, according to Page Six’s police report.

Once he was in the room, staff called 911 and said they feared he might use the balcony and accidentally hurt himself.

“We have a guest who is (allegedly) high and drunk; and when he is conscious he will destroy his room and we need you to send someone, please. We need someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger,” the man, identified only as a hotel manager named Estaban, told the dispatcher.

“He is in a room with a balcony and we are concerned that he is putting his life in danger.”

Payne previously said he hated being cooped up in hotel rooms, a tactic resorted to by 1D management at the height of the band’s fame.

“When we were in the band, the best way to keep us safe – because of the size of it – was to just lock ourselves in our rooms. And of course, what’s in the room? Minibar,” Payne said during a 2021 podcast interview, revealing how he turned to alcohol to cope. “So at some point I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have a party.’”

A source said Payne – who was buried in Britain last week – had tried to escape from his Florida rental home in September by using the balcony to escape after his bodyguard forced him into a room fearing he was on drugs. .

We have reached out to a representative of the Payne family.