Trigger warning: This article mentions death and substance abuse
According to a source close to the late singer’s girlfriend, Liam Payne’s “erratic behavior began to escalate when his girlfriend Kate Cassidy left him on an Argentinian holiday just days before his death. On October 16, the One Direction alumnus was arrested in Buenos Aires. Died after jumping from the third floor balcony of Kasasur Hotel in Mumbai.
“As you can see from the Snapchat video, he was a different person around her,” an insider tells People. Earlier, another source close to Cassidy had revealed that she had been a huge support to Payne when he was embroiled in legal issues with his ex-fiancée Maya Henry. According to the source, “She has been very supportive of him and stood by him throughout all the legal drama.”
The couple was first seen together in October 2022. Although they kept their relationship private, Cassidy shared glimpses of their relationship via social media, from posting rare red-carpet appearances to selfies of their private moments.
Sources told ABC News that the singer had multiple drugs in his system, including “pink cocaine” – a recreational drug, which is usually a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA, according to the National Capital Poison Center.
According to the outlet, “an improvised aluminum pipe” was used to swallow those drugs and was reportedly recovered from Payne’s hotel room. After his tragic demise, Buenos Aires police found his room in poor condition. Upon further investigation by law enforcement, clonazepam, energy supplements, and other over-the-counter medications, as well as “broken” objects scattered around, were recovered from his room.
According to the official preliminary report, Payne died of multiple injuries and “internal and external” bleeding caused by the fall. The National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE that the 25 injuries suffered by the late singer were “consistent with injuries caused by a fall from height” and could have led to his death.
Payne is survived by his seven-year-old son, Bear, who he shared with his former partner and Girls Aloud star Cheryl. She took to Instagram to pay tribute to her son’s father and called out media exploitation while requesting peace and privacy for his family and loved ones.