Hayden Panettiere’s Cause of Death Revealed

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Actor Hayden Panettiere died from an accidental overdose of several drugs including fentanyl, a coroner in South Carolina stated Tuesday (Sept. 22).

Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, S.C., on Aug. 16. Her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were at the home.

A statement from the Greenville County Coroner’s Office revealed that a combination of fentanyl and its chemical byproduct, the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam, a muscle relaxer, and a drug used to treat major depression and other serious mental health disorders were found in Panettiere’s system.

The office did not release further details from the autopsy report of the onetime child star.

Asked for comment on the coroner’s report, family publicist Kasey Kitchen told The Associated Press that “the investigation is still ongoing and the case is complex.”

Greenville Police confirmed Tuesday that their investigation into Panettiere’s death continues.

Paramedics arrived at Panettiere’s apartment following a 911 call. Over 40 minutes of CPR and other advanced resuscitation efforts occurred before she was declared dead. Greenville County Coroner Mike Ellis said in a statement that no signs of trauma that could have led to her death appeared during her autopsy.

The police report issued after her death mentioned a list of medications Panettiere was taking, but the names of the drugs were redacted.

Panettiere gained fame through the television shows Heroes and Nashville. In her book, she described lifelong scars from early fame and acknowledged alcohol addiction and postpartum depression following the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

She also faced numerous family struggles and tragedies. Her parents experienced a strained marriage that eventually ended, and her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who was also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023 at age 28.