The Argentine prosecutor’s office revealed on Thursday the toxicological studies concerning the former member of the boy band One Direction who died on October 16 after falling from a balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Three people who supplied him with drugs were indicted.
Alcohol, cocaine and antidepressants. This is the deadly cocktail consumed by Liam Payne before his death on October 16, the Argentine prosecutor’s office revealed on Thursday, which also indicated that three people were charged with providing him with drugs. “The results of the toxicological studies – already communicated to his family – revealed that, in the moments preceding his death and for at least his last 72 hours, Payne presented in his body polyconsumption of alcohol, cocaine and antidepressants”indicates the prosecution in a press release.
Liam Payne died at age 31 “multiple traumas” and a “internal and external bleeding” after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires where he had been staying for a few days. His father Goeff Payne returned his body to England on Wednesday.
No third party intervention
The prosecution also confirmed the first results of the autopsy suggesting that the injuries on the victim’s body were compatible with those of a fall and that self-mutilation or “physical intervention by third parties” were excluded. The autopsy revealed that on Payne’s hands “no injuries of a ‘defensive’ type were found, that all injuries were vital and produced simultaneously with each other.”
In other words, due to these injuries and the position of the body on the ground, the autopsy estimated that “Payne did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself (in the fall) and may have fallen into a state of semi-or total unconsciousness.” A thesis validated Thursday by the prosecution: “Payne was not fully conscious or was going through a state of noticeably diminished or abolished consciousness at the time of the fall.”
“Abandonment of person followed by death”
The investigation opened into the causes of death, with the examination of cell phones, computers and videos from security cameras, searches in the hotel room and “numerous witness statements in order to reconstruct the victim’s last hours and the course of events”led to the indictment of three people for selling drugs and abandoning a vulnerable person, announced the prosecution.
Without specifying the names of the people involved, the prosecution specified that the person who accompanied Liam Payne daily during his stay in Buenos Aires was charged with “abandonment of person followed by death”, an offense punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison, and supply of narcotics. A hotel employee “must answer for twice supplying cocaine to Liam Payne during his stay”and a third person is “charged with supplying narcotics on two occasions at two different times on October 14.”
Father of a 7 year old child
In a 2023 video posted on his YouTube account, Liam Payne admitted to having been admitted to a rehab center for his alcoholism: “I kind of became someone I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you don’t recognize it either.”he said then. The singer’s death sparked a wave of tributes across the world.
One Direction, who was one of the most lucrative boy bands in the world, with their smooth and light pop, released their fifth and final studio album in 2016, Made in the A.M. The announcement the same year of a break in the group’s career, never formalized as a separation, upset millions of fans. The members of the boy band then began solo careers with varying degrees of success. Liam Payne released his first album, LP1in 2019. Last year he announced that he was working on a second album and had just released a new single in March 2024. He was the father of a child now aged 7.
