Actress Hayden Panettiere, 36, was pronounced dead on August 22 at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call at about 1:51 p.m., found her in cardiac arrest and performed CPR, but she was declared deceased at 2:32 p.m., according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.
Background and recent events
Panettiere, who rose to fame as a child model and later starred in TV series such as Heroes and Nashville, had publicly discussed struggles with postpartum depression, substance‑use disorder, and a history of domestic violence. In her 2026 memoir, she described a relationship with a man she identified only as “Brian,” detailing multiple incidents of physical abuse and arrests, including a February 2020 incident in Wyoming.
In May 2026, Brian Hickerson, the man referenced in her memoir, was charged in California with felony counts of “Injuring a Spouse, Cohabitant, Fiance’s, Boyfriend, Girlfriend or Child’s Parent.” He later entered a plea agreement, receiving four years of formal probation.
Details of the Greenville incident
Dispatch audio obtained from Broadcastify.com suggests a possible overdose, though officials have not confirmed that a drug overdose caused the cardiac arrest. Police reports indicate that the Hickerson brothers, Brian and Zach, were present at the home and called 911 after finding Panettiere unresponsive. Zach Hickerson told TMZ that the brothers attempted to wake her from a nap, administered Narcan, and performed CPR until first responders arrived.
The responding officer wore a body‑camera, but the footage has not been released. A bag of Panettiere’s medications was shown to the officer, though the police report redacted the specific contents. An autopsy found no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death, and the coroner’s office has not yet determined an official cause or manner of death.
Family response
Panettiere’s brother, voice actor Jansen Panettiere, died earlier in 2026 from an enlarged heart. In recent interviews, Hayden spoke about the loss of her brother and expressed a desire to move beyond the darkness of her past, saying she felt she had “a lot more life to live.”
Friends and fans continue to mourn the actress, whose career spanned commercials, television, and music, and who was known for candidly sharing her struggles with addiction and mental health.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
