Hayden Panettiere’s final hours have come under renewed scrutiny after a newly released police report revealed that her on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach, were present at the South Carolina apartment where the actress died.
The 36-year-old Heroes star was found at the rented Airbnb on Sunday after suffering what authorities initially described as a suspected cardiac arrest.
The circumstances surrounding her death remain under investigation by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.
Brian Hickerson Was at the Apartment
According to the Greenville Police Department report, both Brian Hickerson and his brother were at the property when emergency responders arrived.
The report described Zach as being “very emotional” during the incident.
Brian, however, was reportedly less outwardly emotional as emergency medical personnel declared Panettiere dead.
Hickerson also allegedly showed officers a bag containing medication that Panettiere had been taking around the time of her death.
911 Call Raised Questions About Possible Overdose
Audio from the emergency call provided another detail about the circumstances surrounding Panettiere’s death.
A dispatcher described the situation as a cardiac arrest, while also indicating that there was a concern about a possible overdose.
Narcan, a nasal medication commonly used to reverse an opioid overdose, was reportedly discovered on a mattress at the property.
The presence of medication and Narcan has added another layer of uncertainty to the investigation, although neither establishes the cause of Panettiere’s death.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office has not yet announced a final cause of death.
Autopsy Found No Traumatic Injuries
An autopsy completed on Monday reportedly found no evidence of physical trauma that contributed to Panettiere’s death.
The finding is significant given the actress’s publicly documented history with Hickerson, whose relationship with Panettiere had been marked by allegations of domestic violence.
Authorities have not indicated that Hickerson or his brother has been accused of causing Panettiere’s death.
Panettiere Had Documented a Troubled Relationship
Panettiere and Hickerson began dating in 2018, but their relationship later became highly contentious.
Hickerson was arrested in May 2019 and charged with one count of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, according to court records cited by NBC News.
He later pleaded no contest to the allegations in April 2021 and received a four-year probation sentence.
Panettiere’s relationship with Hickerson appeared to come to an end in 2020. That July, she filed for a restraining order against him.
Actress Detailed Alleged Abuse in Her Memoir
Only months before her death, Panettiere publicly revisited the relationship in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
She alleged that Hickerson had physically abused her so severely that she was forced to remain inside her home for weeks to prevent the injuries from becoming publicly known.
Panettiere also wrote that she had been reluctant to involve police because she feared that details of the alleged abuse would become public.
The revelations offered a deeply personal account of a relationship that had previously attracted significant public attention.
Her Death Remains Under Investigation
Panettiere’s death has therefore raised questions that authorities have yet to fully answer.
While the initial emergency response involved a suspected cardiac arrest and reports of a possible overdose, investigators have not publicly established a definitive cause of death.
The police report provides additional information about who was present during her final moments and what officers encountered at the property, but it does not determine what ultimately caused the actress to die.
For now, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the actress, who became a familiar face to television audiences through roles including Claire Bennet on Heroes.
