Photo: Bre Payton/Instagram
Domenech, The Federalist’s founder and publisher, and McCain said “several events will take place in the coming weeks” to honor Payton’s life.
“We hope that Bre’s friends, colleagues, and admirers on both coasts will take the opportunity to honor the life of someone whose passing brought national praise for the talented young writer and commentator she was to the public,” Domenech and McCain tell PEOPLE.
Payton’s familytoldInside Editionthat the exact details of her death from the H1N1 virus, better known as the swine flu, remain unclear: She had seemed fine while with loved ones for the holiday, and then somewhat unwell, and then she was dead.
Bre Payton/Instagram
Payton grew nauseous the night after Christmas, according to her family, and her roommate found her unresponsive in her bedroom the following morning, Dec. 27.
She never woke up — and died on Dec. 28.
“Something occurred over that 12-hour period, between 9:30 at night and 9 o’clock in the morning. It didn’t seem like she was that sick,” dad George Payton toldInside Edition.
“The doctor doesn’t actually know … what caused all of it,” he said, “and we may never know.”
McCain remembered her as an “incredible writer” and a “wonderful, effervescent, cool, interesting, provocative woman, who never stuck to her talking points.”
Payton was a “total rising star in this industry,” McCain said then.
“I’m absolutely gutted and heartbroken,” she said. “Just don’t know what else to say — I’m going to get emotional — other than [she died] way too young. I adored her. It’s a huge loss for everyone.”
source: people.com
