The sudden death of former One Direction band member Liam Payne on October 16 sent shock-waves through the entertainment scene.
He passed away after falling from the third floor of a hotel balcony in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The singer’s family confirmed the sad news through a statement by a spokesperson who said: “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”
“We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”
Autopsy report
Liam Payne’s autopsy findings, performed by the Forensic Medical Corps at the Judicial Morgue on Viamonte Street, revealed he died from multiple traumas that caused internal and external bleeding.
The prosecutor’s office said in its press release that as a matter of protocol, the circumstances of Payne’s death will be investigated as a “doubtful death,” even though it seems that the musician was alone when the fall occurred, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The office said that Payne “was going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse.”
Images of the late singer’s hotel room were leaked to the press, painting a picture of drugs and uncontainable moments that left the space in disarray.
The New York Post noted that the images- verified by Argentina’s biggest newspaper, La Nacion– reportedly show a smashed television, a half-empty glass of what appeared to be champagne, and foil and powder scattered across Payne’s third-floor room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.
“Photos of a desk show a Dove soap packet, an empty glass and the remains of a burned candle and the burned top of a drink can — along with traces of a white powder that authorities will test to confirm suspicions it could be cocaine.”
Frantic call to police
Before he died, Liam Payne was reportedly acting out, causing hotel staff to make a frantic call to the police.
Daily Mail reported that [Police in Argentina] were contacted by a member of hotel staff who reported ‘an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol ‘.
Shortly after the call, workers heard a loud sound in the hotel’s courtyard before discovering the singer’s lifeless body.
“The star was said to have been ‘acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’, according to local media.”
BBC reports that hotel staff made two calls to police, the first being about the trashing of the hotel room, and the second being about Liam’s life being at risk.
“In a second call, the same caller [chief receptionist] warned the guest’s life ‘may be in danger’ as the room had a balcony, and asked the 911 operator to send someone ‘urgently’.”
A transcript of the call obtained by the news website reads in part: “We need you to send someone urgently because, well, I don’t know whether his life may be in danger, the guest’s life. He is in a room with a balcony and well, we’re a little afraid that he…”
The New York Post notes that the singer fractured his skull and died instantly after the sudden fall.
Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti said that first responders rushed to [the hotel] after receiving an emergency call from the frantic manager late Wednesday but there was nothing they could do to save him.
Gone too soon
Liam rose to fame on The X Factor at the age of 14 years.
The Guardian reports: “Born in Wolverhampton, England in 1993, Payne was just 16 years old when he became part of One Direction, a boyband formed on the British reality show The X Factor in 2010.”
“The group – Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik – went on to become one of the biggest boybands of all time.”
He died at the age of 31.
