According to an official from Argentina, a preliminary toxicology analysis has shown that former One Direction member Liam Payne had cocaine in his system at the time of his death.
The music star, who was 31 years old at the time of his death, was found dead on Wednesday after falling from a balcony on the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
According to the official, a preliminary toxicological analysis that was turned over to local prosecutors revealed that there was evidence of substance exposure to cocaine.
In their statement, they emphasised that the preliminary findings do not provide a precise measurement of the amount of the drug that was circulating in his blood at the time of his death.
Within the next several weeks, it is anticipated that the full toxicological results will be made available to the public.
In Payne’s hotel room, Argentine investigators discovered what seemed to be opiates and alcohol strewn amid shattered objects and furniture. This led the public prosecution to speculate that Payne had experienced a breakdown as a result of substance misuse around the time of his fall.
Payne may have been in a state of “semi or total unconsciousness” when he fell from the balcony of his hotel, according to the prosecution. Payne was alleged to have sustained “extremely serious injuries” after landing in the courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel, according to the arresting authorities.
The manager of the hotel’s front desk informed a 911 operator that there was “a guest drunk with drugs and alcohol” who was “breaking everything in the room” just a few minutes before he passed away.
A YouTube video that was uploaded in July 2023 revealed that the singer, who had earned worldwide popularity with the boy band One Direction, had admitted to having struggled with alcoholism. He stated that he had been sober for a period of six months after undergoing treatment for the condition.
The singer had traveled to Buenos Aires at the beginning of this month to see his former bandmate Niall Horan perform at the Movistar Arena.
Horan, along with other former members of One Direction, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, issued a statement expressing their “completely devastated” state of mind in the wake of Payne’s passing. Simon Cowell, who mentored the band on The X Factor and later signed them to his Syco label, also issued a statement expressing his “truly devastated” and “empty” feelings.
2018The singer of Girls Aloud, Cheryl, who was in a relationship with Payne from 2016 to 2018 and who had a baby named Bear with him in 2017, also spoke about her sadness on Friday and criticised the “abhorrent” reports that have been circulating about his passing.
The members of Payne’s family issued a united statement in which they expressed their “heartbreak” over his passing and said, “Liam will forever live in our hearts, and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny, and brave soul for all eternity.”
Geoff Payne, Payne’s father, had been to Argentina in order to make arrangements for the return of his son’s remains to the United Kingdom. The authorities in Argentina anticipate that the body will be released the following week.