Hickerson did not become visibly emotional until the actress was declared dead, according to police.

Hayden Panettiere’s on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson showed police her ‘bag of medication’: incident report

Hickerson did not become visibly emotional until the actress was declared dead, according to police.

By Leigh Blickley

August 18, 2026 12:50 p.m. ET

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Brian Hickerson and Hayden Panettiere. Credit:

Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock

- Hayden Panettiere’s on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson was with her when she died, according to the police incident report.

- Hickerson showed police the actress’ “bag of medication” and didn’t become visibly emotional until she was declared dead, per the report.

- Hickerson served jail time in 2021 for alleged corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant, assault, and intimidating Panettiere.

Hayden Panettiere’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was with the actress when she died in Greenville, S.C., on Sunday at 36, police confirmed.

According to a police incident report obtained by NBC News on Tuesday, Brian and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were at apartment complex Judson Mill Lofts when authorities arrived on the scene.

The responding officer, identified in the report as Matthew Bryan, said he first spoke with Zach, who was “very emotional,” while emergency medical services professionals were “working on Hayden.”

NBC News* *noted the report goes on to say that Brian did not become visibly emotional until EMS declared Panettiere dead. He also showed police a “bag of medication” that the actress was taking at the time of her death, the report added.

* *has reached out to the Greenville Police Department for the report and further details.

EW’s sister site PEOPLE also reported that a law enforcement source told the outlet that Brian, who is from the Palmetto State, was with Panettiere at the time of her death. (TMZ previously reported that the former couple were spotted flying out of Los Angeles together on Saturday.)

According to the Greenville Police Department, the actress was found “unresponsive” at Judson Mill Lofts around 1:50 p.m. local time on Sunday after “an acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere’s placed the 911 call.” It’s unclear who called 911.

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement to EW on Monday that first responders and EMS initiated “advanced cardiac life support” measures on Panettiere, but “resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 p.m.”

The coroner’s office confirmed that an autopsy was completed on Monday, but a cause of death has not been determined. The office told ** on Tuesday that it could take around eight weeks for the results of her toxicology report to come through. However, the timeline provided is approximate as the requested document could also arrive before that projected timeframe.

According to audio dispatch obtained by PEOPLE on Monday, officials spoke about an apparent “overdose” and “cardiac arrest” while treating Panettiere. EW reached out to Panettiere’s rep, who told PEOPLE regarding the 911 call details: “I don’t have any more information at this time, but it’s looking as though that is the case.”

The preliminary investigation into Panettiere’s death has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances, per police.

Hayden Panettiere in 2022.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

The *Heroes* star dated Brian on-and-off from 2018 to 2021. She began a relationship with the real estate developer and aspiring actor after she ended her engagement to Wladimir Klitschko, with whom she shares an 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.

Panettiere claimed Brian physically and emotionally abused her throughout their relationship. Brian was arrested for alleged corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant, assault, and intimidating Panettiere after alleged incidents between May 2019 and June 2020. He served 33 days of a 45-day county jail sentence after pleading no contest in April 2021.

Just three days before Panettiere’s death, Brian reportedly had his request to reduce his past felony charges denied by a judge, according to court documents obtained by Page Six. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to the outlet that the prosecution objected both his motions to expunge and reduce the charges to a misdemeanor in a hearing on Aug. 13.

“I’ve always seen myself as such a resilient and strong woman. The idea that I could allow something like this to happen to me blew my mind. It blew the minds of the people that knew me best,” Panettiere reflected to *Us Weekly* ahead of the publication of her memoir, *This Is Me*: *A Reckoning*, in May. “So that whole experience, I kept as much of it to myself as possible because I didn’t want to drag anybody that I loved into [it]... It was humiliating.”

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Brian, whose Instagram account has been deleted since Panettiere’s death, confirmed his abusive behavior in an interview with TMZ after Panettiere’s book release, admitting of the instances she detailed, “I did it. I did it.”

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He also said Panettiere was better off without him and called her the most talented person he’d ever met. “She’ll always hold a special place in my heart,” he noted, saying they were not romantically together but had “mutual respect” for one another.

“We probably wouldn’t be good together,” Brian told TMZ. “I’d like to see what she’s going to do with the next 30 years of her career.”

*If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at **1-800-799-7233**, or go to **thehotline.org**. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.*

*If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at **988lifeline.org** 24/7.*

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