Hayden Panettiere died Sunday at age 36 in a South Carolina apartment where her on-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother were present. Greenville police found her unresponsive before emergency workers declared her dead at 2:31 p.m., while an autopsy discovered no signs of trauma or foul play.
The circumstances surrounding the sudden death of actor Hayden Panettiere came into sharper focus following the release of a police report from the Nbcnews. Responding officers arrived at the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in South Carolina on Sunday afternoon after receiving a 911 call reporting a cardiac arrest.
Emergency medical personnel were already performing CPR when officers entered the residence. Despite extended lifesaving efforts, authorities pronounced the Heroes
star dead at 2:31 p.m.
The Police Report and the Hickerson Brothers at the Scene
According to the heavily redacted incident report filed by responding officer Matthew Bryan, Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were inside the apartment when first responders arrived. Zach Hickerson told police that Panettiere was his brother’s girlfriend.
The reporting officer noted distinct reactions from the two brothers as emergency workers attempted resuscitation. I observed Zach to be very emotional while EMS were working on Hayden. Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased,
Officer Bryan wrote in the report.
Investigators reviewed CCTV footage showing Panettiere and the Hickerson brothers coming and going from the residence. Following her death, Brian Hickerson showed officers a bag containing medication that Panettiere had been taking, though the specific medication list remains redacted in public files alongside details of conversations between police and the brothers.
Autopsy Findings and Ongoing Investigations
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed that an autopsy was completed Monday, revealing no signs of trauma or suspicious circumstances that would have contributed to her death. Police reiterated that preliminary findings show no indication of foul play.
The official cause and manner of death remain pending further medical investigation. The actor had been temporarily staying at the South Carolina apartment complex when she went into cardiac arrest.
A Tumultuous History and Recent Memoir
Panettiere’s romantic history with Brian Hickerson drew intense public scrutiny over the years. Hickerson was arrested in May 2019 and subsequently charged in 2020 with multiple felony domestic abuse counts, pleading no contest to two counts of injuring a spouse or partner. He served a brief jail sentence and was sentenced to four years of probation, anger management, and AA sessions.
Just days before the police report was released, a Los Angeles judge denied Hickerson’s request to reduce his conviction to misdemeanors upon completing the terms of his probation.
Panettiere addressed those turbulent years candidly in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning,
which was published in May. In the book, she detailed her decisions surrounding Hickerson’s time behind bars and her path toward forgiveness.
“I wanted Brian to be in jail just long enough to scare him, but not long enough where’d he become a worse person. I needed him to admit his wrongs and change because of them, but I didn’t want to traumatize him in an irreversible way.”
Hayden Panettiere, Memoirist and Actor
Tributes from Family, Co-Stars, and Former Partners
As the entertainment industry mourned the loss of the former child star, tributes flowed from colleagues and family members. Her mother, Lesley Vogel, told reporters that her daughter had tragically lost her way despite possessing many remarkable attributes.
“The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter.”
Wladimir Klitschko, Former Fiancé
Tributes highlighting her enduring talent and vibrant energy across television hits such as Nashville
and Heroes
continued as investigators work to determine what caused her sudden death.
