Former One Direction member Liam Payne used cocaine, alcohol, and antidepressants before his death

Former member of the boy band One Direction Liam Payne, who died in October in Buenos Aires at the age of 31, had consumed cocaine, alcohol and antidepressants before his death, according to the Argentine prosecutor’s office. The former British star was found dead on October 16 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room. His death caused a wave of emotion among his many fans around the world.

“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 a polyconsumption of alcohol, cocaine and antidepressants”indicates the prosecution in a press release, specifying that three people were charged with selling drugs and abandoning a vulnerable person.

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 is charged with “abandonment of person followed by death”an offense punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison, and supply of narcotics.

Self-harm excluded

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”.

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 thus self-mutilation or “physical intervention by third parties” were excluded. The autopsy revealed that on Payne’s hands “no ‘defensive’ type injuries 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 that he 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”.

The pop star had spoken publicly about her drug addiction and difficulty coping with fame from a young age. Liam Payne was catapulted to stardom in 2010 thanks to One Direction, produced by the TV show «The X Factor». The group became one of the most lucrative boy bands in the world, before going on hiatus in 2016, never formalizing a separation.