More details have emerged about the moments leading up to Liam Payne’s death.
The 31-year-old singer died after falling from the balcony of his hotel room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16. A 911 call from the hotel just minutes before Payne’s death shows that hotel staff feared for his safety and believed the singer was intoxicated.
Police released a new statement Thursday about what was found at the scene and in Payne’s room. A preliminary autopsy report confirms that Payne died as a result of head injuries consistent with his fall from the balcony.
In a statement, Payne’s family said they are “heartbroken.”
Here’s the latest.
911 call released
The hotel’s ‘head receptionist’ made the first of two calls at 5.01pm about a guest taking ‘drugs and alcohol’ and ‘destroying the whole room’, according to a BBC transcript. The caller claimed that when the guest is “conscious, he destroys the whole room and we need you to send someone.”
The hotel employee was disconnected and called 911 a second time, requesting that he “send someone urgently” for fear that the guest’s “life would be in danger” as he was “in a room with a balcony sit’.
La Nación, a national newspaper in Argentina, said the resources were sent at 5:04 p.m. and arrived quickly. Reports of a “man fallen from the third floor” came in at 5:07 p.m. Payne was pronounced dead at the scene in the hotel courtyard minutes later.
Alberto Crescenti, the director of SAME (Buenos Aires Emergency Medical Services), told ABC News that Payne had fallen approximately 40 to 45 feet. He described the injuries as ‘very serious’ and ‘incompatible with life’.
Police found Payne’s room in ‘total disarray’
Police told Reuters they found a bottle of whisky, a lighter and a mobile phone near where Payne fell at the hotel. A fingerprint analysis will be performed.
In Payne’s hotel room, police said they found over-the-counter medications, energy packs and the prescription drug Clonazepam, which can be used to treat anxiety.
“On arrival [the hotel room]Total disorder was observed, with several elements broken,” police said. They took evidence to be analyzed in a laboratory, along with Payne’s notebook and passport.
Payne had been open about past alcohol abuse, revealing in 2023 that he was sober. It is currently unconfirmed whether the singer was drunk before his death. Payne spoke openly about struggling with anxiety. An investigation is underway.
Hotel guest claims to have heard ‘loud noises’ coming from Payne’s room
Doug Jones, who was staying at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, told the BBC he thought work was going on in Payne’s room because of the “loud noises” inside. He said it got really loud after about 4 p.m
‘I was here all day. The room across the street, I think they were staying there,” he said. ‘I thought they were working on the room. There was a lot of noise, like heavy lifting, like banging, a lot of loud… noises, I thought.”
According to the initial autopsy, head injuries sustained from a fall caused Payne’s death
CNN obtained the preliminary report, which said Payne died as a result of injuries involving “internal and external bleeding.” A toxicology report is pending, which will determine whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
La Nación also obtained the report in which medical examiners determined that “25 injuries described in the autopsy were compatible with those caused by a fall” from the height of Payne’s room, according to a translation. The head injury sustained was serious enough to result in death. No defensive wounds were found on Payne’s body.
In Argentina, a court may require a forensic autopsy in the case of a violent or suspicious death and family consent is not required.
National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor No. 16 is handling Payne’s death investigation. Although it has been classified as suspicious, the office told La Nación that “everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred, and was experiencing some kind of breakout due to substance abuse.”
Payne’s family remembers ‘his kind, funny and courageous soul’
The musician’s family released its first statement: “We are heartbroken. Liam will live forever in our hearts and we will remember him for his kind, funny and courageous soul. We support each other as best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space in these terrible times.”
Fans gather outside Payne’s hotel
Devastated fans flocked to the CasaSur Palermo Hotel to mourn the former One Direction singer. They gathered with candles, flowers, letters and songs.
