Hayden Panettiere’s death ruled accidental, Greenville police say case is closed

Panettiere was discovered unresponsive on Aug. 16 at a South Carolina apartment complex where she had been staying.

Greenville police said Wednesday that the investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death is over after authorities determined her death was accidental. The finding came after the Medical Examiner’s review and the police inquiry, ending the case in South Carolina.

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said last month that Panettiere, 36, died from the toxic effects of several drugs: fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. Officials also reported there were no signs of trauma, and police said from the start that they did not find evidence of foul play.

Panettiere was discovered unresponsive on Aug. 16 at a South Carolina apartment complex where she had been staying. Her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was present at the complex and later showed police a bag of medication he said she had been using, according to the police report.

Her family had previously spoken publicly about her long battle with addiction. After the coroner’s findings were released, her mother, Lesley Vogel, described Panettiere as determined and said her many rehab stays reflected her effort to get healthy. Vogel also said she had never heard her daughter mention fentanyl.

Panettiere rose to fame as a child performer and later starred in Heroes and Nashville. She also appeared in Remember the Titans, Ice Princess and Bring It On: All or Nothing.

In her memoir, Panettiere wrote that her life became increasingly unstable after the birth of her daughter with Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. She said she turned to heavy drinking while dealing with postpartum depression and the strain of Klitschko being away. In 2018, she entered rehab and gave Klitschko custody of their child.

She also wrote about the pain she felt after the 2023 death of her brother, Jansen Panettiere, from an undiagnosed heart condition.