The Passing Of Liam Payne Is Not Being Treated As Self-Inflicted, According To The Prosecutor.
Prosecutors investigating the death of Liam Payne have ruled out that the late singer died by suicide, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office in Argentina said in a press release Thursday.
Officials noted that they came to this decision after concluding that Payne was likely unconscious when he fell to his death from a third-story balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires on Oct. 16 given that there was a lack of “self-preservation reflex.”
That information combined with “other relevant data” about the amount of drugs he consumed leading up to his death, as noted in his toxicology report, allowed them to conclude Payne was not “fully conscious” or was in a state of “decrease or loss of consciousness” and therefore did not fall intentionally.
This situation would “rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing nor could he understand it,” the prosecutor’s office said in its statement translated from Spanish to English.
Officials said in a previous statement that they believed the “Night Changes” singer was alone in his hotel room when suffered his fatal fall, so it is not believed that anyone pushed him, either.
However, three people were charged Thursday in connection to Payne’s death, as prosecutors believe the suspects engaged in illegal activity that may have contributed to the pop star’s untimely passing.
Prosecutors charged Payne’s “friend” — whose identity has not been disclosed but reportedly identified himself as the singer’s manager — with abandonment for allegedly breaching his duty of care.
Police reportedly tried to reach the businessman after Payne died via a cellphone he had given hotel staff but he did not pick up officers’ calls. He also allegedly failed to inform Payne’s family of his drug relapse.
Argentine news outlet La Nación reported Thursday that one of the escorts allegedly could not give a straight answer when asked whether the “Strip That Down” singer invited them to the CasaSur Hotel or a hotel employee did, prompting investigators to take a closer look at what else they may have lied about.
Payne’s death investigation is ongoing, but his cause of death has been attributed to the multiple traumas, internal and external bleeding he sustained as a result of his fatal fall.
Page Six exclusively confirmed Wednesday that the “What Makes You Beautiful” signer’s body has been flown to his homeland, England, by his father, Geoff Payne, for burial.
