Liam Payne’s preliminary toxicology report has shed some light on newer aspects in the investigation surrounding the sudden death of the star in Argentina.
The report confirmed that the former One Direction singer had drugs in his system when he fell to his death from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 16.
An official familiar with the case disclosed the findings to the New York Times.
The toxicology results have been handed over to local prosecutors as part of the ongoing investigation into Payne’s death, according to a police spokesperson.
Final toxicology results are still pending.
In an official statement on October 17, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office revealed that substances were found in Payne’s hotel room that “at first glance, and pending confirmation from the experts, would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages.”
As per E! News, the authorities are continuing their investigation by interviewing witnesses, including three hotel staff members and two women who were with Payne in his room just hours before his death.
The women had left the hotel before the incident occurred.
“Beyond reconstructing the circumstances of the musician’s death,” prosecutors stated in their press release, “the investigation is also aimed at determining the possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim’s death.”
Investigators confirmed that 25 injuries on Payne’s body were consistent with those from a fall at such a height, and no signs of defensive wounds or injuries indicated foul play.
“Given the position in which the body was left and the injuries from the fall,” prosecutors said, “it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen into a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”
The official cause of Payne’s death has not yet been publicly released.