Hayden Panettiere’s Mother Says Boyfriend’s Story Doesn’t Add Up

Actress Hayden Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive on Sunday, August 16, at an Airbnb rental in Greenville, South Carolina, and was pronounced dead a short time later, five days before what would have been her 37th birthday. Zach Hickerson, brother of Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson, said he arrived to find Panettiere unconscious after knocking loudly and waking Brian, then called 911 while Brian administered Narcan and the two performed CPR until first responders arrived. Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, told the Daily Mail she does not believe the Hickerson brothers' timeline, questioning whether they had Narcan on hand and how Brian could nap next to Panettiere without noticing something was wrong, and said she has told police she believes Brian is culpable. A neighbor, Mia Terrazas, said she twice saw Panettiere removed from their West Hollywood apartment complex by first responders in 2023 and 2024 with visible bruises, with Hickerson at her side both times; police records show Hickerson pleaded no contest in April 2021 to a felony domestic abuse charge involving Panettiere and she was granted a five-year protection order against him. Police have said there were no signs of foul play and an autopsy found no signs of trauma contributing to her death, though her cause and manner of death remain undetermined and the Drug Enforcement Administration has joined the investigation.