GREENVILLE, SC — Hayden Panettiere had a “bag of medication” she was taking around the time of her death, according to her boyfriend, who cops said did not appear upset even as EMS workers fought to save her life.
Brian Hickerson, whose brother, Zach, was also at the Greenville, South Carolina, Airbnb where the 36-year-old died Sunday, broke down only after his on-again, off-again girlfriend was pronounced dead, according to police documents.
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Cops arrived at the scene Sunday afternoon around 1:50 p.m. to find “multiple EMS and firemen performing CPR” on the “Heroes” actress, who appeared to be “unresponsive” and “did not seem to have any obvious physical reasons to be unresponsive.”
The reporting officer noted that Zach was “very emotional” as EMS “were working on Hayden,” ultimately declaring the “Nashville” star dead at 2:32 p.m. It was only then that his brother, 37, became “emotional.”
Brian showed officers a “bag of medication” the troubled actress was currently on, which — though the list is redacted in the Greenville City Police Department report — appears to include nine different drugs.
Narcan — an emergency medication used to reverse an opioid overdose — was also reportedly found inside the Airbnb.
An autopsy was performed on Panettiere’s body Monday, but South Carolina coroners said it could take up to 12 weeks for the full toxicology results to be released.
Panettiere and Brian had reconnected only about two weeks before her shocking death.
The pair — who have had a documented tumultuous relationship since 2018 — were in Los Angeles for roughly a week before they flew to South Carolina, where the brothers are from, a source told Page Six.
“He was supposed to leave, but somehow, they ended up on a flight to South Carolina, where he is from,” the insider said.
As for the nature of the pair’s relationship, our informant noted that “things did not appear to be romantic” and cited Panettiere’s own comments to podcaster Jay Shetty just three months ago.
Still, “Brian would always find a way to work his way back into Hayden’s life as ‘a friend,’” the source said.
The “Nashville” star’s inner circle was “always concerned” about her relationship with Hickerson, whom the informant branded “bad news” and “a real jerk.”
Reps for Hickerson and Panettiere did not respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
However, not everyone in Panettiere’s life knew that Hickerson was back in hers, as a separate source said, “If Brian was back in her life then it was something she was hiding because she wasn’t speaking about it with many of her friends.”
“If you’ve gone through some dark times with people and spoken about it [publicly] then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person,” they added. “So maybe that was why she hadn’t mentioned it to us.”
Panettiere and Hickerson’s rocky relationship has been marked by multiple allegations of domestic violence, several arrests and even criminal pleas.
Hickerson was first arrested in May 2019 in Hollywood and charged with felony domestic violence. He pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed four months later. Panettiere later described the incident as the beginning of a pattern of physical abuse.
LA prosecutors then alleged that Hickerson injured the “Remember the Titans” star during separate incidents in December 2019 and January 2020, claiming he used a garage floor and stairs in a manner capable of causing injury.
Hickerson was arrested again on Valentine’s Day 2020 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, after allegedly punching Panettiere in the face. The case was followed by additional allegations that he attempted to interfere with or intimidate a witness in the proceedings. He pleaded no contest to all charges. Panettiere has since described the Wyoming incident as a wake-up call.
Then in July 2020, LA prosecutors filed an eight-count case against Hickerson, including multiple felony counts of corporal injury, assault with a deadly weapon, battery and dissuading a witness. He initially pleaded not guilty, but in April 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or cohabitant, while the remaining charges were dismissed.
Hickerson was sentenced to 45 days in jail, four years of probation, domestic violence classes, restitution and a five-year protective order.
On Aug. 13, the judge overseeing the case denied Hickerson’s motions to expunge and reduce the charges to misdemeanors.
The duo’s last public sighting was as recently as March, when paparazzi caught them at an LA airport together. At the time, Panettiere was using crutches to walk, insisting she was dealing with pinched nerves in her lower back.
The “Bring It On: All or Nothing” star detailed the increasingly abusive nature of her relationship with Hickerson in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which she released in May in tandem with a press tour for the book.
