Payne had previously been open about his struggles with substance use. He entered rehab for addiction in 2023, TODAY.com previously reported. “I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either,” he said in a YouTube video detailing his experience. At the time, he’d been sober for six months.
What is polytrauma?
The National Library of Medicine describes polytrauma as a condition characterized by “multiple injuries, some of which may cause significant disability and may be life-threatening.”
The prosecutor’s office’s statement defined polytrauma as “multiple traumatic injuries.”
Polytrauma usually means injuries involving multiple organs or systems. Common causes of polytrauma include car accidents, and suicide or homicide attempts.
Death due to polytrauma may occur as soon as the injuries are sustained or shortly after, or it may take longer, research shows. When it’s immediate, it’s usually due to a primary brain injury or significant of blood loss; when it’s later, it’s often due to a secondary brain injury or the body not being able to recover from the injuries.
On the afternoon of Payne’s death, authorities responded to a 911 call from Payne’s hotel made by a staff member about a guest who had destroyed objects in their room while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to audio of the call obtained by Telemundo.
The call was placed minutes before Payne’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office. The call does not mention Payne by name, but local authorities have since confirmed that the call was about Payne.
The guest had “overindulged in drugs and alcohol,” the transcript reads. “Well, when he is conscious he breaks … the whole room. Well, we need you to send someone, please.”
“And we need someone to be sent to us urgently, because well, I don’t know if he is at risk. The guest is in a room that has a balcony, and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the caller said.
A press release from the Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office said that Payne died at the hotel Casa Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the neighborhood of Palermo. He was staying in a bedroom on the third floor of the hotel and fell from the balcony outside his room.
