{"id":6769,"date":"2026-08-17T12:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6769"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:38:27","slug":"what-we-know-about-hayden-panettieres-death-and-tormented-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6769","title":{"rendered":"What we know about Hayden Panettiere’s death and tormented life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tragic \u201cNashville\u201d star Hayden Panettiere unexpectedly died just days before her 37th birthday \u2013 but after years of heartbreak, tragedy and addiction.<\/p>\n

Read more Detroit news anchor can\u2019t keep it together over co-host\u2019s unintentionally risqu\u00e9 question<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,\u201d her dad, Skip, announced late Sunday, hours after the actress was found dead in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her \u2014 and to the millions who watched her onscreen.\u201d<\/p>\n

What we know about her death<\/h2>\n

The actress\u2019 body was found in a Greenville, South Carolina, apartment by an unidentified friend who reported an \u201cunresponsive female\u201d in \u201ccardiac arrest\u201d at 1:51 p.m. Sunday, TMZ reported.<\/p>\n

Paramedics tried to resuscitate her with \u201cadvanced cardiac life support,\u201d which can include breathing tubes, defibrillators, and emergency medication such as IV drugs, as well as administering chest compressions. She was pronounced dead at the scene just over 30 minutes later.<\/p>\n

Although an official cause of death hasn\u2019t been revealed, \u201cthe preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,\u201d Greenville cops told NBC News Sunday.<\/p>\n

An autopsy will be carried out Monday.<\/p>\n

What we know about Panettiere\u2019s final hours<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Panettiere, from Palisades, NY, and her on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson boarded a plane from Los Angeles to the south Saturday, a source told TMZ. It\u2019s unclear why she traveled to the location.<\/p>\n

The pair dated on and off between 2018 and 2022, but their relationship was marred by multiple domestic violence incidents.<\/p>\n

In April 2021, Hickerson was sentenced to 45 days in county jail after pleading no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was also hit with four years of probation, ordered to attend 52 domestic violence classes, and received a five-year restraining order that bars him from going near Panettiere.<\/p>\n

Her last post<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Panettiere last posted on social media around two weeks before her death.<\/p>\n

She shared a playful black-and-white snap on July 27 showing her winking and smiling with her tongue out as she wrapped an arm around photographer Randall Slavin at what appeared to be a crowded gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood times and good friends @randallslavin \u2728,\u201d Panettiere captioned the post.<\/p>\n

The comments section of that post has been inundated with tributes \u2013 from celebrities including Selena Blair, who wrote, \u201cI love you. Don\u2019t be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 21, she shared an image of the front cover of July\u2019s edition of Dear Mom\u00e9, entitled, \u201cHayden Panettiere Never Stopped Choosing Her Daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 911 call shows Hayden Panettiere\u2019s friend found her \u2018unresponsive\u2019 from apparent cardiac arrest: police<\/a><\/p>\n

Battles with addiction, postpartum depression<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Panettiere first appeared in Playskool toy train commercials aged 11 months, but her biggest breakthrough came when she was 16 with her role in \u201cHeroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she later revealed she was just 15 when she was offered \u201chappy pills\u201d before a red-carpet event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were to make me peppy during interviews,\u201d she told People.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panettiere revealed she couldn\u2019t be \u201cmessy\u201d on set.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut things kept getting out of control [off-set],\u201d she said. \u201cAnd as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn\u2019t live without.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panettiere welcomed her daughter Kaya with then-fiance Wladimir Klitschko in December 2014 \u2013 whom she dated between 2009 and 2011, and 2013-18.<\/p>\n

In October 2015, she sought treatment for postpartum depression, voluntarily checking into a rehab center.<\/p>\n

She checked into a rehab center in 2020, and spent eight months receiving treatment.<\/p>\n

Panettiere recalled in her memoir, \u201cThis is Me: A Reckoning,\u201d that doctors told her she risked being dead within five years if she didn\u2019t stop drinking.<\/p>\n

Brother died from undiagnosed heart condition<\/h2>\n
\n<\/div>\n

Panettiere died a little over three years after her brother Jansen. Jansen Panettiere, 28, died unexpectedly in February 2023 from an undiagnosed heart condition.<\/p>\n

Medical examiners attributed his death to an enlarged heart combined with aortic valve complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him,\u201d she told People in September 2024, her first comments about her brother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always be heartbroken about it. I will never be able to get over it. No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hayden Panettiere voiced hope in heartbreaking last interview: \u2018I have a lot more life left to live\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tragic \u201cNashville\u201d star Hayden Panettiere unexpectedly died just days before her 37th birthday \u2013 but after years of heartbreak, tragedy and addiction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat we know about Hayden Panettiere's death and tormented life - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What we know about Hayden Panettiere's death and tormented life - 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