Liam Payne’s sister Nicola has admitted she hopes her brother “has finally found some peace” following his death at the age of 31.
The One Direction star fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last Wednesday and was pronounced dead at the scene due to the injuries sustained.
Tributes from far and wide have flooded in for the singer ever since, including from his ex and mother of his son, Cheryl, and all four of his One Direction bandmates.
Five days on and sister Nicola has now broken her silence to pay tribute to the singer – and hit out at the online “judgement” he faced.
She penned on Instagram: “I have posted about Liam and his achievements over the years with a proud sister alert and that has stood then, now and always!!!
“When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold. I wanted so much for it to be untrue. I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong.
“You were truly too good for this earth, you are an angel who lived to make people smile and be happy. You have always shown kindness to everyone you met and it shows with just how many people have confirmed what we always knew!
“We don’t have many pictures together as we never really did that as a family, we never wanted you to feel like you were in a room of fans. But we were your biggest fans – always and forever.”
“Your talent alone puts your miles ahead, but also you being you. I have been looking back at the messages from the night I had Ffion, how excited you were to meet her, the jokes we all shared and the laughter that you knew we all needed.
“You led your life with a motto of, ‘Why bother doing something unless you are brilliant at it?’ And Liam, you were certainly brilliant at everything you did.”
Turning her attention to the criticism he faced when he was alive, Nicola hit out: “Unfortunately, this cruel world is always too quick to judge someone from a five-second clips, they then think it entitles them to be able to speak like they know you. We knew you, and we loved you.
“I hope that you finally found some peace up there and that you always continue to look after us all as you have done in life.
“We will make sure Bear knows about his daddy and how much you loved him. We promise this. See you soon, Liam. Love you xx.” (sic)
Payne’s sister’s sentiment echoes that shared by his ex and mother of son Bear, Cheryl, who blasted the media coverage and online fallout of his death as “abhorrent”.
Cheryl broke her silence on Payne’s death over the weekend, writing on social media: “As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being.
“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son.
“A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again. What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days.
“It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future.”
Payne suffered “internal and external” hemorrhages and multiple traumatic injuries, according to a preliminary autopsy.
A toxicology report is still in the works.
Police discovered the singer’s body after being called to the hotel by concerned staff over an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.
