DEA Joins Investigation into Actress Hayden Panettiere's Death

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has joined the investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere.

Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday afternoon. First responders found her in cardiac arrest and attempted life support, but she could not be revived. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 pm. Brian Hickerson, Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, and his brother Zach Hickerson were at the residence when she died.

Brian Hickerson showed investigators a bag of medication that Panettiere had been taking, stating she was on nine medications. An autopsy performed on Monday revealed no signs of trauma that might have contributed to her death. Her cause and manner of death remain undetermined pending further investigation and additional testing, with toxicology results expected in several weeks.

Panettiere spoke candidly about her drug use and the downfall of addiction. She wrote in her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," about sustaining a concussion, whiplash, and neck injuries at 14 from being thrown from a zebra on a movie set, which she said still bothered her decades later. She also linked a flare-up of an old neck injury to escalating opioid use.

Panettiere had struggled with postpartum depression and substance addiction, relinquishing custody of her daughter Kaya in 2018. Panettiere's neighbor, Mia Terzas, described Brian Hickerson as a terrifying disturbance, stating she called 911 at least a half dozen times over altercations from Panettiere's West Hollywood apartment. Terzas said Hickerson was banned from the property and she witnessed Panettiere leave injured on a gurney twice.

Panettiere's estranged mother also blasted Brian Hickerson. Authorities have not determined whether opioids, other medications, or Panettiere’s previous injuries played any role in her death.