The Death of Liam Payne: The Sad, Shocking End

In early October of 2024, Liam Payne and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy travelled to Argentina to visit his former One Direction bandmate, Niall Horan, who was on tour. In Buenos Aires, Payne checked in to the Casa Sur Palermo hotel. Kate Cassidy then left and returned home to the US.

In the hour before his death, Payne was in the hotel lobby clearly intoxicated to the point where he could not stand. He was taken to his room as the hotel manager called for emergency services to treat Payne and warned that he might do something life-threatening as his third floor room had a balcony.

Approximately seven minutes later, Payne fell from the balcony into the courtyard.

Cause of Death

The official cause of Payne’s death as determined by the coroner was polytrauma. Polytrauma is multiple injuries sustained to the organs and systems in the body sufficient to cause death. Payne also suffered from internal and external injuries due to the fall.

Traces of cocaine, alcohol, and prescription antidepressants were in Payne’s system at the time of his death.  The coroner also reported no defensive injuries were found along with no indications that suggested another party was involved that caused or contributed to Payne’s fall from the balcony.

Charges

Five people have been indicted in the death of Liam Payne. Charged with the crime of manslaughter are Gilda Martin, the hotel manager and the hotel’s receptionist Esteban Grassi, and Payne’s friend Roger Nores. Two more people, Braian Paiz, a waiter, and Ezequiel Pereyra, who worked at the hotel have been charged with supplying Payne drugs.

Although no one is accused of directly causing Payne to fall from the balcony, Nores is accused of not fulfilling his duties of care or providing proper assistance which left Payne alone in his room. The receptionist is accused of asking three people to take Payne to his room despite his obvious condition and the hotel manager for not intervening.

Kate Cassidy

Two days before Liam Payne died, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy left him in Argentina and returned home to Miami, Florida. This prompted speculation that the couple, who had been dating since October of 2022, were breaking up.

In her first interview since Payne’s death, Cassidy denied reports of any trouble between her and Liam. She claims that her reason for returning home was to take care of their rescue dog, Nala. Cassidy stated that it was their original intention to stay in Argentina for just a week, but when that stretched into two weeks, she felt the responsibility in returning to look after their pet.

Cassidy has no direct connection with Payne’s death as she was out of the country when it occurred. However, less is known about her participation in the intake of drugs which contributed to the circumstances that caused Payne’s fall. Cassidy has stated she would not have left Payne if she suspected something was wrong.

Although the cause of Liam Payne’s death is known, there are still many questions surrounding the circumstances of his death, the actions of his friends, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and the hotel staff.