The mother of 25-year-old Argentine waiter Braian Paiz spoke about her son's ordeal since being accused of supplying drugs to the late pop star Liam Payne.
She described his deteriorating health and harsh prison conditions, calling the case a "miscarriage of justice."
Arrested in January after losing his job and home, Braian remains jailed despite poor investigations and reports of abuse. "He made a mistake," Sandra said. But he shouldn't be condemned for it.
The Daily Mail sat down with Sandra Paiz, mother of Braian Paiz, a 25-year-old former waiter held in an Argentine prison accused of supplying drugs to Liam Payne, the late pop star who died during a visit to Buenos Aires.
When the publication visited Sandra's small home on the outskirts of the city, her phone rang unexpectedly. The moment she saw her son's name on the screen, her eyes filled with tears, as prison calls are rare and tightly monitored.
During the call, Sandra said her son sounded calmer than he had in months. He had recently been transferred to a new facility, which she described as an improvement compared to the grim conditions of his previous prison.
In the previous facility, Braian shared that the conditions were "terrible."
"We didn't even have running water, and the mattresses were very damp. I had a bad cold and cough for several weeks without medical attention. During winter, we bathed almost the entire time with cold water," he said.
He also admitted that his mental state had suffered in the months following Liam Payne's death.
"I was in a really bad place anyhow," he said. "I couldn't stop overthinking. I felt terrible. The news of Liam's death hit me hard. But now, I'm focusing a lot on my freedom and on getting out."
In the interview, Braian also spoke about the toll the case has taken on his life. When asked if he regretted meeting Payne, he admitted the experience had left him deeply scarred. "I've suffered so much psychological damage due to all this and the social condemnation, and of course, I'm worried now I might be in prison for many years...' Braian paused. 'But I don't regret meeting Liam. I was a fan."
After the call ended, Sandra sat silently for a moment, gripping the phone tightly. Her relief that her son sounded stronger was mixed with painful memories of his earlier pleas. In one of their first conversations after his arrest, he had cried down the line, saying, "I can't breathe. Please, Mum, get me out. I can't stand it anymore."
She believes her son is being unfairly punished. "He made a mistake," she said. "He takes responsibility for it. But just because someone he met died two days later, why should he be condemned like this?"
In the emotional interview, Sandra also described the torment her family has endured, calling the situation a clear "miscarriage of justice." Once living comfortably in a larger home nearby, the family's life has unraveled since Braian's arrest in January. Mounting legal costs forced Sandra to sell nearly everything she owned.
"I had to sell everything," she explained. "I had almost finished setting up a little hairdressing salon, but with everything that happened with my son, I had to sell it all."
During the interview, Sandra Paiz recounted the moment she discovered her son had been linked to Payne's death. It was November 8 last year. She was lying in bed watching television, unaware of who the One Direction star was, when her son's face suddenly appeared on the evening news.
The following day, panic set in as she and her family tried to locate Braian, who had moved to a new apartment in July to be closer to his job in central Buenos Aires. "We couldn't find him," she said, "My daughter went to look for Braian and she found his apartment. He was locked inside, nervous, listening to music. And he wasn't answering the door to anyone."
Sandra explained that just days earlier, on November 5, nearly three weeks after Payne's fatal fall from a third-floor balcony, Braian had been fired from his job at Las Lilas restaurant, and with no income, he had been warned by his landlord that he would soon face eviction.
"To begin with, he didn't dare tell us what had happened," Sandra said. "He was just waiting in that little apartment to see what would happen, if any notification from the authorities would arrive."
Eventually, on Friday, January 3, after two tense months filled with uncertainty, officers from Argentina's Special Investigations Division arrived at the Paiz family home and arrested Braian on suspicion of supplying drugs to Payne in the early hours of October 14.
"At first, we didn't understand anything," Sandra recalled. "I asked him at the time, and he didn't understand either - he was in shock. My son never tried to flee or anything. He always looked for ways to cooperate with the investigation."
The nine months that followed have been harrowing for the family. Braian was formally charged in February and has since been denied house arrest multiple times, despite reports that he was attacked in prison because of his sexuality and developed a serious urinary tract infection that went untreated for days.
"I am very angry about the justice system," Sandra said. "Because, unfortunately, they acted poorly and didn't conduct a proper investigation before charging him. For example, even though I handed in his mobile phone, it wasn't even examined until March."