Payne, Liam (1993-2024)

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    Liam Payne Vigil in London Brings Fans Together

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    His death has been particularly profound in Britain, where Payne, a member of the boy band One Direction, first achieved fame. “We don’t know loss like this,” one fan said.Hundreds of fans gathered in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon to mourn Liam Payne, 31, a member of the British group One Direction, who died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last week.Somber adults and teenagers waited — some, for hours — to lay flowers and handmade signs at the base of the bronze Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens to honor Payne. It was one of several memorials held around the world in the days after his death.“We don’t know loss like this,” said Brooke Kurzeja, 18, who traveled three hours to attend the vigil. “This is what it was like when Prince died, my mom said.”The loss is profound in Britain, where fans watched Payne, from Wolverhampton, a town in central England, twice on the British talent show “The X Factor”: first in 2008, at 14, when he was eliminated after a few rounds, and then two years later, when he showed up with more confidence. The show’s judges shuffled Payne into a group with four other British boys who had auditioned as solo artists — Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan — and the group, One Direction, quickly captured the hearts of teenagers around the nation — before taking on the world.Ellie Smith for The New York TimesEllie Smith for The New York TimesAlicia Sinclair, 22, posted to X the day after Payne’s death expressing her desire to gather with other devastated fans. “If I need something, probably so many other people need something,” Sinclair said. As the weekend approached, she and a few other fans started a group on WhatsApp, which quickly grew to nearly 1,000 members.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Liam Payne’s Cause of Death, the 911 Call and More: What We Know

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      A hotel desk manager called 911 with concerns about Payne, the former One Direction singer, shortly before he fell from a third-floor balcony. The results of toxicology reports are pending.Liam Payne, a former singer in the popular British boy band One Direction, died on Wednesday after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires.Payne’s family released a statement on Thursday asking for privacy. “We are heartbroken,” the family said. “Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”Here is what we know about the circumstances of his death, which led to an outpouring of grief from fans, and the ensuing investigation.A 911 call was made moments before his death.The Buenos Aires police released a recording of a 911 call that was placed minutes before Payne’s death from the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, where he was staying.A man who identified himself as the hotel desk manager said on the call that a guest who appeared to have excessively consumed drugs and alcohol was “breaking everything in the room.” The manager requested urgent assistance because the room had a balcony and hotel employees were “afraid he could do something that puts his life at risk.”A spokesman for the Buenos Aires police said on Thursday that the guest was Payne, 31.The local prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the death, said in a statement that it appeared Payne was alone when he died. It said investigators found broken objects and furniture in his hotel room, as well as what appeared to be narcotics and alcohol. The results of toxicology tests will most likely not be made public for several weeks.An autopsy said Payne died of ‘multiple trauma.’In an autopsy performed a few hours after Payne’s death, forensic experts determined that he died from falling out of a window and that there were no signs of anyone else being involved. It is not clear whether Payne intentionally jumped or accidentally fell from the third floor.The autopsy report was submitted to the prosecutor’s office, which said it indicated that Payne died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding” in the skull, chest and abdomen and limbs.The prosecutor’s office indicated that, because of the position in which the body was discovered and the 25 injuries he sustained, officials presume that Payne did not try to protect himself from the fall and may have fallen into a state of unconsciousness.No defensive wounds were found on the body.The prosecutor’s office said that it was investigating the death as a matter of protocol because of the circumstances, but that no defensive injuries were found on Payne’s body.Five people were interviewed at the prosecutor’s office, the authorities said, including two women who had been with Payne earlier Wednesday but had left the hotel before his death. They also interviewed three hotel workers. More