Anonymous Argentinian sources acquainted with the initial toxicology findings say that One Direction singer Liam Payne died from a hotel balcony in Argentina after taking crack cocaine and methamphetamine.
The 31-year-old British musician and former One Direction member died last week after falling from a third-floor Buenos Aires hotel room.
ABC News and TMZ stated that a partial autopsy found “pink cocaine”—methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA—along with crack cocaine and benzodiazepine. Both reports referenced unidentified preliminary test sources.
The preliminary toxicology testing revealed cocaine exposure, but an unknown official told Associated Press that these results don’t accurately reflect how much was in his system when he died.
Final toxicological results are expected weeks from now.
Associated Press said that the official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to brief journalists. Local media covered the preliminary report on Monday.
Argentina’s public prosecution is examining the case, as is typical with sudden deaths.
He died from traumatic injuries from his three-story hotel window fall, according to Payne’s autopsy. No one else is involved, say prosecutors.
The public prosecution believed 31-year-old Payne had a substance abuse-induced breakdown in his hotel room after finding opioids and alcohol on damaged objects and furniture. The prosecution argued Payne may have fallen from his hotel balcony while “semi or total unconscious”.
Local media reported photos of snowlike powder on a table and a damaged TV screen from Payne’s hotel room. Police found a blister pack of clonazepam and over-the-counter drugs in Payne’s bags. The hotel management reported an aggressive, intoxicated guest to 911 shortly before Payne’s death.
Who sold Payne the narcotics he consumed at the CasaSur hotel in Palermo, a fashionable neighborhood of the Argentinian capital, is also being investigated. At least three hotel employees and two ladies who visited Payne’s room hours before his murder had given statements to police.
Fans and pop stars worldwide have grieved.
On Monday, the late singer’s father, Geoff Payne, met with prosecutors and other local officials in Buenos Aires to arrange the remains’ repatriation.
After Argentinian officials release the remains next week, Geoff Payne can fly home and attend a burial in England, where hundreds of One Direction fans mourned him on Sunday.
