What we know about One Direction’s Liam Payne’s shocking death at a Buenos Aires hotel

Authorities are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the former One Direction member’s death

Liam Payne, the singer and former One Direction member, was found dead outside a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday night.

His friends and millions of fans are already paying tribute to the 31-year-old, who police say fell from a third-floor hotel balcony. He is survived by his parents, his two older sisters, and his seven-year-old son, Bear.

Here’s everything we know so far about Payne’s death and the circumstances leading up to it:

Liam Payne, second from right, poses for a photo with his fellow One Direction members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson in 2011 (AP)

Where was Liam Payne when he died?

Payne was found dead in a hotel courtyard on Wednesday night. The hotel is located on Costa Rica Street in Buenos Aires’s Palermo neighborhood, local authorities revealed.

Earlier this month, Payne reportedly shared a Snapchat saying he was traveling to Argentina in part to see his former bandmate Niall Horan play a show there.

“It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to talk about and I would like to square up a couple of things with the boy. No bad vibes or nothing like that but we just need to talk.”

How did Liam Payne die?

Officials are still investigating the exact circumstances surrounding Payne’s death.

The hotel manager told police that there was “a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol.”

“He’s destroying the entire room and, well, we need you to send someone, please,” the manager said, according to call audio obtained by the Associated Press.

After falling, Payne was found to have suffered “extremely serious injuries” and medics pronounced him dead on the spot.

Authorities will now perform an autopsy and investigate the cause of Payne’s death.

Fans hug outside the hotel where authorities found Payne’s body on Wednesday night (REUTERS)

Is foul play suspected?

It’s unclear. Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, has only said that authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding Payne’s death. His body has been sent for an autopsy to help investigators determine what led up to his death and if there were any contributing factors.

Why was Liam Payne in a legal battle with his ex-girlfriend?

Liam Payne and his ex-girlfriend, Maya Henry, were in a legal battle when he died on Wednesday night. The couple had called things off in 2022.

Henry, 23, had issued a cease and desist notice to Payne earlier this week, accusing him of repeatedly contacting her and her loved ones, The Daily Mail reported.

“‘Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information,” her lawyers told the Mail. “She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter.”

Payne and Henry in 2021. The couple broke up in 2022, and Henry sent Payne a cease-and-desist notice earlier this week (Getty Images for BFI)

Henry spoke out about her concerns in a TikTok video earlier this month.

“Ever since we broke up he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone, it’s always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it’s gonna come from,” Henry said in the video.

The 23-year-old also published the novel Looking Forward in May, which she said was “inspired by true events.” The book contains a content warning for abortion, abuse, violence, self-harm, substance abuse and eating disorders, People reports.

So far, no former members of the band have publicly spoken out.

However, Styles’s mom Anne Twist posted a broken heart emoji on Instagram soon after his death was announced.

“Just a boy,” Twist wrote.