Three months before her death, Hayden Panettiere was reportedly determined to set the record straight regarding her life and career.
Her memoir offered a candid account of a childhood under intense public scrutiny, the pressures of expectation, and struggles with addiction and personal crises. Despite her desire to define herself beyond these challenges, Panettiere's untimely death at age 36 has left many questions unanswered.
She is believed to have traveled from her Los Angeles home to Greenville, South Carolina, on the Saturday before her death. Greenville is the hometown of her on-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, 37. While both had been registered as residing in Los Angeles, some reports suggested Hickerson was living in Greenville, where Panettiere's body was discovered in an Airbnb rental at the Judson Mill Loft apartment complex on Sunday afternoon.
Circumstances of Discovery
On the Friday preceding Panettiere's death, her former co-star from the series Nashville, Charles Esten, performed a gig at The Foundry at Judson Mill, a venue located within the same complex. Esten posted on Facebook that he and his wife did not see Panettiere during their visit and described her being in the area the following day as a "strange coincidence."
According to a Greenville police report, Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were both present at the apartment when Panettiere died. Zach Hickerson reportedly found Panettiere unresponsive in an armchair around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, while Brian Hickerson was asleep in a bedroom. It remains unclear which brother made the 911 call. Police described Zach Hickerson as "very emotional" during medical efforts, while Brian Hickerson reportedly did not become emotional until Panettiere was declared deceased.
Medical and Legal Questions
The 911 dispatcher noted that Panettiere was suffering from a suspected "overdose." Surveillance footage from the apartment complex showed two ambulances at the scene, both of which departed without transporting anyone. A coroner's van later transported Panettiere's body.
Brian Hickerson reportedly showed police "a bag of medication" that Panettiere was taking at the time of her death. The contents of this bag are unknown, and toxicology reports are not expected for several weeks. Panettiere had been open about her past struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, including her experiences with opioids and her use of "happy pills" as a teenager to cope with public appearances. She also experienced postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014, and later struggled with opioid use following a neck injury.
In 2018, Panettiere relinquished custody of her daughter to the child's father, boxer Wladimir Klitschko. She also underwent an eight-month rehabilitation program in 2020. Her brother, Jansen Panettiere, died earlier in 2023 at the age of 28, with his cause of death attributed to a heart condition, though he had reportedly struggled with substance abuse.
Relationship History
Panettiere and Brian Hickerson's relationship, which began in 2018, was marked by significant volatility and accusations of domestic violence. Police reports from May 2019 and February 2020 detail incidents involving Hickerson, who was convicted of domestic violence and served 19 days of a 45-day jail sentence. Panettiere had previously obtained a restraining order against him.
Despite these issues and warnings from both families about their toxic dynamic, the couple reportedly rekindled their relationship. A friend told Page Six that if Brian was back in Panettiere's life, it was likely something she was hiding, possibly due to shame associated with past struggles.
Brian Hickerson has not yet commented on Panettiere's death.