Lawyers for Liam Payne’s family were in court in Argentina on Tuesday. Page Six has obtained papers that show Richard Bray, a veteran music industry attorney working on behalf of the family, has transferred his legal interests to a local law firm in Buenos Aires. This means that Payne’s loved ones will be named plaintiffs in any future criminal cases.

It is the first time Payne’s family has been addressed in connection with 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 have been released .

Local prosecutors concluded that Payne’s injuries were not the result of self-harm or any outside interference from others. According to Page Six, “A source familiar with the family said they were ‘100 percent confident’ that Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his siblings would want to seek justice for him.”

Payne, former member of One Direction, died on October 16 at the age of 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Prosecutors have already charged two hotel employees with allegedly providing him with narcotics, and a friend of Payne’s as a person of interest for failing to intervene and help him. However, in the wake of the photographs The investigation took an even darker turn as a police report was released showing that hotel staff had been assaulting Payne and locking him in his hotel room. timestamp at are unconfirmed, it appears to have occurred shortly before his death Six.

If this is true, the hotel staff could face charges of “abandoning a person”, according to Nicolas Durieu, a Buenos Aires-based criminal lawyer. In this case, it could potentially be considered “serious” because a person died, carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years, Page Six reports.

A “murder” charge in Argentina carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while anyone convicted of facilitating or distributing drugs faces up to 12 years in prison.

“The legal system also allows the family to pursue their own criminal prosecution and conduct their own investigation,” Durieu said. “Victims are very empowered and independent from the prosecutor. Usually, the family sides with the prosecutor, but not always.”

In recent footage, a police report revealed that Payne was trying to escape his hotel room when he collapsed. “It seemed clear to me that Liam was trying to go back downstairs, he didn’t want to go into his room,” a source told Page Six. However, according to police, hotel staff used the master key to enter the room and kept Liam inside.