When did Liam Payne die?
Liam Payne died in Argentina on Oct. 16, 2024, el Sistema de Atención Médica de Emergencias (SAME) confirmed to Telemundo. He was 31 years old.
Bill McCay/Getty ImagesHow did Liam Payne die?
The singer suffered a fatal fall “from the balcony of the third-floor room of the hotel in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo where he was staying,” according to an Oct. 17 release from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 translated from Spanish to English.
An autopsy was performed, the release continued, and determined Payne died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage” as a result of the fall.
While the release said that, “as a matter of protocol, the circumstances of the case are being investigated as a ‘doubtful death,'”—meaning there was no conclusive information about the cause of death, per NBC News—it noted that “everything indicates the musician was alone when the fall occurred, and was going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse.”
Payne had spoken about his battle with sobriety in the past, sharing in a July 2023 YouTube video that he’d attended treatment for about 100 days and that he hadn’t had a drink in about six months.
JC Olivera/Getty ImagesWhat else did Liam Payne’s autopsy say?
According to the release, coroners reported 25 injuries in Payne’s autopsy that were “compatible with those caused by a fall from height.”
“They also pointed out that the head injuries were sufficient to cause death,” the release continued, “while the internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs contributed to the mechanism of death.”
In addition, the release said forensic experts found “no defensive injuries” after examining the One Direction alum and that “no injuries were observed that would suggest the intervention of third parties.”
Still, questions remained—including about the state Payne may have been in at the time of his fall.
“The prosecution said that, given the position in which the body was left and the injuries from the fall,” the release added, “it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen into a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”
As medical examiners sought more answers, the release noted, they requested histopathological, biochemical and toxicological studies.
“At this point,” the Oct. 17 release read, “the analysis of the stomach contents, alcohol and toxins in the blood, vitreous humor, bile, nasal swab and urine for the determination of alcohol and toxins was required.”
A preliminary toxicology report revealed Payne had drugs in his system at his time of death, an official with direct knowledge told The New York Times.
