Payne’s sudden death sparked a debate about the music industry’s duty of care for young stars.
Toxicology tests conducted shortly after his death revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s body, the prosecutor’s office in Argentina said.
The cause of his death was confirmed as “polytrauma” – a term for multiple traumatic injuries – at the opening of a UK inquest held in Buckinghamshire recently.
According to the Sun, Cassidy has since left their Florida home and moved back to New Jersey.
Cassidy said she believed they were “soulmates” from the first time they met, and that it “still doesn’t feel fully real” that he’s no longer there.
“I’m trying to be the best I can be, but I feel like my life has changed so much. I think about Liam every second of every day,” she said adding: “That he won’t be there with me to navigate through this life, that I’ll have to deal with this without him by my side… it’s really hard.”
The couple met in 2022, when Cassidy was a waitress in South Carolina, the paper reported.
When she got the call about Payne’s death from a friend of his, she said: “I feel like I just completely blacked out. When I officially found the news out to be true, I felt numb. I tried to call him. I called pretty much everybody.”
She told the Sun that she still calls Payne’s phone to hear his voicemail recording, and that while she used to fall asleep to his music, she can no longer play it.
“Maybe one day,” she added.
“We were in such a great place, just full of love; he was so happy and positive… you never truly know what tomorrow will bring, you never know.”
