Liam Payne’s final moments revealed in court documents, surveillance footage
Liam Payne’s moments before his death have been laid out in official records and surveillance videos.
According to court documents obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ, the late singer was drinking and looking for drugs in the early part of the day he died. “Dude, I think I’m going to f**k a hooker,” his 7:00 a.m. text for a friend read. Two hours later, he asked him if he “can get six grams.”
Payne’s friend got to the hotel to have breakfast with the former One Direction member. After having some whisky, he looked for some “powder” when he came back to his room.
Prosecutors, in official records, recalled that two sex workers arrived at Payne’s room at 11:30 a.m. Payne asked them if they brought some cocaine with them, and then got mad at them when they asked for payment.
Payne, around 2:00 p.m., texted the hotel staff, “I’m gonna need another 7 grams for today.” Hotel workers said Payne was already “visibly drunk” by 4:00 p.m.
Per TMZ, a hotel employee later called 911 and said they were afraid Payne might hurt himself, indicating that they knew an accident could possibly happen.
“I don’t know whether his life may be in danger. He is in a room with a balcony, and, well, we’re a little afraid,” the staff said, according to a 911 transcript that the entertainment portal obtained.
The employees then left Payne alone in his unit.
Payne fell to his death from his third-floor balcony later in the day of Oct. 16. He was 31.
TMZ reported that new CCTV footage showed that the late singer was seemingly trying to get out of the Buenos Aires hotel when he died. It's presumed that he "was trying to get from the third floor balcony to the second floor balcony, and then jump a short distance to the ground," the media outlet reported, adding that Payne had used the "balcony escape plan" in the past, with the most recent one in September when he was suspected to have been on a "drug binge."
In a police report obtained by the outlet, it's stated that a black New York Yankees hat and a Louis Vuitton bag were seen next to his body after his passing. According to the media portal, he possibly put them on when he came back to his room as both items were not shown in videos that were previously made public.
A brown leather bag with pills as well as a Jack Daniel's bottle with a note that read "For Liam" was also discovered in the scene.
His room was found destroyed, with broken objects and furniture.
Officials determined that Payne died from multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. He “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and ... he may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness,” they said.
His body was delivered to his father, Geoff Payne, this November after an autopsy report, including several toxicology tests, showed Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system in the moments before his passing.
His funeral began on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at St. Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Aside from his parents, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and ex Cheryl Tweedy were there. His former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson were also spotted at the private service.
So far, three people have been charged in connection to Payne's death.