Questions Surround Liam Payne's Death -- Was Singer Unconscious When He Fell?

Following the unexpected death of Liam Payne comes numerous questions from One Direction fans seeking more information after the 31-year-old singer who rose to fame with the British boy band unexpectedly died on Wednesday (Oct. 16).

Payne sadly passed away after falling from a three-story balcony at a hotel in Bueno Aires, Argentina — an incident which immediately underwent investigation — and the latest reports from across the globe have subsequently tried to piece together Payne's final moments to understand the tragic sequence of events that unfolded for the pop star.

First, fans learned through the media that the One Direction member had evidently "jumped" from the third-story balcony of his room at the Argentine capital's Casa Sur Hotel, per a Buenos Aires Security Ministry statement to the AP. A subsequent autopsy then revealed that Payne died after suffering a debilitating skull fracture.

Yet, adding mystery is a report about the autopsy from the New York Post that shows that Payne may have been unconscious when he fatally fell; the tabloid also alleges that two women had been in the hotel room with the singer in the hours before his death.

What Was in Liam Payne's Autopsy?

As for the autopsy, the Post reports that the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 16 in Argentina noted on Thursday (Oct. 17) that Payne's injuries and the position of his body on the ground "did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself," suggesting he may have "fallen while in a state of semi or total unconsciousness."

Of course, Thursday also found One Direction's surviving members breaking their silence on Payne's death, saying they were "completely devastated" in a joint statement, adding, "The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us."

It was undoubtedly a hard day for Payne's former bandmates after the inconceivably dreadful turn of events. The singer's autopsy noted "internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs" present in Payne from the fall, as well as "craniocerebral injuries were sufficient to cause death," as reported by Vox.

What Else Do One Direction Fans Know About the Death?

Fans have been trying to make sense of the death using what they know from reports.

Concerning the number of people in the room with Payne just before he died, the singer was posting photos and videos on Snapchat with his girlfriend, the influencer Katie Cassidy, roughly an hour before the fatal fall. If perhaps a second woman, per the Post, joined Cassidy within that time, that person is unknown to the public.

Per TMZ, Payne was displaying erratic behavior and "behaving strangely" while staying at the hotel. The staff of CasaSur Palermo said Payne was moving from side to side and stuttering strangely. The Daily Mirror reports that Payne had violently smashed a laptop computer just moments before his fateful fall, leaving fans to only wonder what exactly occurred.

On the day he died, Payne had been in Argentina for two weeks, partially to attend a Niall Horan concert in which he was shown to be dancing and posing with fans amid the event. Police also found medication in the hotel room where he died when they were alerted to the property by staff at around 5:07 pm local time, with medical personnel also then arriving.

MSN points out that Payne had drawn criticism from throngs of One Direction fans on the internet for showing what was called "attention-seeking behavior" at Horan's concert in Bueno Aires on Oct. 2. The behavior apparently led some fans to believe that Payne could have been displaying emotional issues that weren't being properly addressed.

The Post adds that, at the time of his death, Payne had been "going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse" at the time, which is stated (in Spanish) in the report from the examiner.

Tags

Liam Payne, One Direction, Music