In a statement addressed directly to her late brother, who died on October 16 in Argentina, Ruth Gibbons said she "doesn't feel this world has been good or kind enough to you."
"My brain is struggling to catch up with what has happened and I don't understand where you have gone. Quite often over the last few years you've had to try really hard to overcome everything that's been directed at you. You just wanted to be loved and make people happy with your music," she wrote on Instagram.
On Oct. 18, Payne's father visited the hotel in Buenos Aires where his son fatally fell from a third-floor balcony two days earlier, thanking fans gathered nearby in a shared moment of grief.
After landing in the Argentine capital this morning, Jeff Payne also visited the morgue where his 31-year-old son's body was being kept pending toxicology test results.
Meanwhile, reactions continued to come in, including from Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy, Payne's former partner and mother of their seven-year-old boy, Bear.
She called his death a "heartbreaking event".
In a message on social media, Tweedy railed against the "disgusting reporting and media exploitation" following Payne's death, which caused "further harm to all who are left to pick up the pieces."
"Before leaving comments or making videos, ask yourself if you would want your own child or family to read them. Please give Liam what little dignity he has left after his death so he can finally rest in a little peace."
she said.
Payne died from "multiple trauma" and "internal and external hemorrhaging" after falling from the balcony of his room at the Casa Sur hotel in downtown Buenos Aires, the autopsy found.
Investigators said he appeared to have "experienced an episode of drug abuse."
Among others paying tribute was Simon Cowell, creator and judge of the X Factor show that launched One Direction in 2010.
Cowell said he was "truly heartbroken", in an Instagram post in which he also addressed Payne directly.
"I want you to know how much I love and respect you. I watched you spend so much time with people who wanted to meet you. You really cared about them," he said.
Cowell added that meeting Payne last year reminded him "that you were still the sweet, good boy I had met all those years ago." | BGNES
