With how blindsiding and devastating the death of Liam Payne was, it’s easy to become engulfed in the flurry of misinformation. From false theories to convoluted timelines, everything left fans confused and grieving.
His tragic passing happened on October 16th when he was in CasaSur Palermo, a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had arrived in Argentina on October 1st for a former bandmate, Niall Horan, to attend his concert. The beginning of the trip was fine, until the late singer had allegedly relapsed on drugs. On October 16th, Liam Payne, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, accidentally fell from the third floor. The coroner reported his cause of death to be both internal and external hemorrhages due to his fall from the third floor balcony.
The confusion from the seemingly cut and dry case comes from the details surrounding the incident. There are many concerning details that add to the story. There were illegal substances found in his room, substances on the toxicology reports, there was severe damage to hotel appliances, he likely wasn’t even fully conscious when he fell etc.
Big media outlets had, up until that point, painted the tragedy to be a substance abuse influenced suicide. That’s why it was an extremely visceral shock when it became public that three men had been arrested related to Liam Payne’s death. Out of the three detained for allegedly supplying Payne illicit substances, one hotel employee still maintains his innocence, one drug dealer has been charged, but one of Payne’s old associates sits somewhere more complicated. Rogelio “Roger” Nores had known the late vocalist for four years before his passing, and had seen him the day of his death. He was arrested under charges of abandonment. This was because he left Payne alone on drugs, he didn’t let the singer’s family know he had relapsed and avoided law enforcement contact after the tragedy.
With legal proceedings happening in Argentina, his family can at last find some amount of solace in the fact that his body has finally been returned to his family in the UK. His parents and former girlfriend have expressed their tremendous grief at the fatal accident. They have every right to be devastated, Payne’s death was a preventable accident.
Though his death was extremely unexpected, Liam Payne will always hold an unshakable place in the music industry as a member of the world’s most successful boyband. His dedication to his career was something admired even by fellow artists, as former bandmates have come out to pay tribute to him and show support to his family. Payne left behind a really influential legacy, a level of success the young man who stood on The X Factor stage wouldn’t have been able to fathom. In that light is how he deserves to be commemorated.
