Who is Liam Payne?
Liam Payne is mostly known for being a member of the five-member boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 after the members competed on The X Factor. One Direction thrived for 5 years, then Zayn Malik left the group in 2015. The next year the group went on ‘an indefinite hiatus.’ Payne’s solo career afterwards was not as successful as the group’s. His single “Strip that Down” with Quavo was a hit, but his following songs and albums did not perform well. Payne’s solo career was also littered with struggles and controversies. According to Times Now News, Payne is alleged to have groomed, cheated on and abused his ex-fiance Maya Henry. Payne entered the relationship with Henry when she was 19 and he was 26, and after their breakup she alleged that he forced her to terminate a pregnancy at home and cheated on her. Fans also disliked when Zayn left the group and Liam stated, “If he feels hurt and scorned in some sort of way that I don’t really understand…” while on “The Dan Wootton Interview” podcast. However, Payne also recently opened up about his struggle with drugs and mental health, announcing proudly in 2023 that he was six months sober.
The Days Prior
As per ABC News, On Monday September 30, 2024 Payne and his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, arrived in Argentina for a getaway trip. Cassidy documented much of the portion of the trip that she attended on TikTok. On October 2 she and Payne reunited with Payne’s former bandmate, Niall Horan, and attended Horan’s show at the Moviestar Arena. Three days later they attended another concert, this time a Paul McCartney concert, at the Estadio Monumental de River Plate. Cassidy leaves for Florida on October 13, two days after Payne was spotted posing for pictures with fans in Argentina
Tragedy Strikes
According to ABC News, Liam Payne was found dead outside the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires Buenos Aires on October 16, 2024 after falling from a balcony. The Spokesman for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires, Pablo Policiccho, told The Associated Press that Liam Payne threw himself from the balcony of his room. The Buenos Aires police reported that Payne’s hotel room was “in complete disarray.” His room consisted of broken objects, broken furniture, energy supplements, packs of a central nervous system depressant, and over the counter medications.
Forensics Results
An initial toxicology report stated that Payne had drugs in his system. Forensics teacher Ms. Kopun defines toxicology and its importance, stating that “toxicology is a field that investigators can turn to in order to solve a case potentially. They might test someone’s blood or tissue samples or hair samples to see if there were any substances in their system like poisons or drugs that could have contributed to the death.”
Ms. Kopun explains, “If you combine different types of drugs their combined effects can be greater than potentially the effect of one. Now sometimes drugs and toxins can cancel each other out. But in many instances they might amplify effects…unfortunately it seems like they could’ve amplified in this case.”
Broadcaster Todo Noticias, among other Argentine media outlets, stated that the report also found evidence of exposure to drugs. Furthermore, according to NBC News, an autopsy discovered that Payne’s 25 injuries were “compatible with those produced by fall from height.” So although the drugs found in his system may seem as though they could cause symptoms leading to death, the autopsy found that his cause of death was polytraumatism, which the US Department of Veteran Affairs defines as the condition of a patient with multiple severe injuries to multiple body parts and organ systems, often caused by blast-related events, and internal and external hemorrhage.
Police Accusations
As per The New York Times, a statement from the local prosecutor’s office implied that Payne’s death was not suicide because he was unconscious when he fell. They came to this conclusion because none of the 25 injuries Payne sustained were defensive and because of the position that Payne fell in, which led them to believe that he did not try to protect himself from the fall and was, therefore, unconscious. Argentine authorities accused three people of being in connection with Payne’s death. One person was accused of “abandonment of a person followed by death.” The prosecutor’s office described them as someone who was with Payne daily, during his trip to Buenos Aires.
The two other people were accused of supplying narcotics. One of whom is an employee of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel. This employee is accused of delivering cocaine to Payne twice. An official stated that all three people are prohibited from leaving the country and surrendered their passports, but they have not been arrested and their names have not been released. Something else to consider is that a 911 call was made minutes before Payne’s death. The man who called stated that he was the hotel desk manager and that there was a guest who seemed to have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs and was “breaking everything in the room” and the employees were “afraid he could do something that puts his life at risk.” A spokesman for the Buenos Aires police later confirmed that this guest was Payne.
It is important to remember that the investigation of this case is ongoing and there are new developments regularly. It is also important to be mindful towards family, friends and fans that are currently grieving.
