Liam Payne’s blood-alcohol content was four times the legal limit when he died.
The singer was confirmed to have “alcohol concentrations of up to 2.7 grams per liter in blood at the time of death,” according to a press release by the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 from Friday.
Per Alcohol.com, 2.7 grams per liter equals .27 percent in blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which could lead to confusion, feeling dazed and disorientation. The legal limit in Argentina, where Payne died, is 0.05 percent.
The former One Direction member was also confirmed to have “cocaine metabolites, methylecgonine, benzoylecgomine, cocaethylene and the medication sertraline” in his system, per officials.
Payne died on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling off the balcony of his third-story room at Casa Sur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31.
An autopsy report confirmed he died from multiple traumas that led to internal and external bleeding, including a cranial fracture, while trying to escape his hotel room via the balcony. It was reported he passed out while climbing the balcony after employees locked him in his room for acting erratically throughout the day.
A toxicology report also revealed he had multiple drugs in his system, including the recreational drug pink cocaine, when he died, which could have caused him to lose consciousness.
Three months later, five people were arrested and charged for their alleged roles in his death, per documents obtained by Page Six.
Hotel manager Gilda Martin; receptionist Esteban Grassi, who made the 911 call moments before Payne’s death; and the singer’s friend Rogelio “Roger” Nores were charged with manslaughter. Meanwhile, Braian Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra were charged with supplying drugs to Payne, who had been in and out of rehab over his addiction.
Although Martin, Grassi and Nores had their charges dropped, the prosecutor’s office announced Friday that Paiz confirmed he had supplied Payne with drugs in exchange for money.
Although he had initially denied the claims and alleged he supplied Payne the drugs for free after spending the night together, judges in the case said that “the evidence gathered reveals the onerous nature of the deliveries and enables the confirmation of the prosecution ordered by the previous instance.”
Per security camera footage, “Payne went down to reception to ask for money” in the early hours of Oct. 14. And after examining their text messages, Payne had told Paiz that he had “100 US dollars” when the latter said that “the guy with the cigar just answered me, come later if you want.”
A police report made at Paiz’s address also confirmed that “all the inhabitants/families of the place have as their main livelihood the sale of narcotic material.”
Payne was laid to rest on Nov. 20 in a funeral attended by his family, his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, the mother of his son, Cheryl Cole, and his former One Direction bandmates: Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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