Hayden Panettiere was spotted with Brian Hickerson hours before her untimely death as they travelled together.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleHayden Panettiere’s death has left many unanswered questions. The actress passed away on August 16, 2026, after an apparent overdose and cardiac arrest. Police say an acquaintance placed the 911 call, and investigators have found no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. After Hayden’s death, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, came into the spotlight.
In less than 24 hours before she was found unresponsive, Hayden was spotted with Brian. The actress was photographed boarding a flight out of Los Angeles. The duo was spotted at LAX on August 15, 2026, before flying to Greenville, South Carolina. Hayden and Brian’s final outing came as a shock to her well-wishers, as he was given a restraining order and was asked to stay away from Hayden by the court.
Hayden began dating Brian in 2018, and the actress was subjected to a series of domestic abuse incidents between 2019 and 2020. Brian was arrested in 2021 and was sentenced to 45 days in county jail. Apart from this, he was given four years of formal probation, 52 mandatory domestic violence classes, and a five-year restraining order.
Cops alleged that he punched Hayden “with a closed fist on the right side of her face” at a private residence in Jackson, Wyoming. Later that year, he was charged with eight counts, including felony domestic violence, four felony charges of corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant, a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor charge of battery on a spouse, and also dissuading Hayden from testifying against him.
In 2025, Brian requested that his felonies be reduced or dismissed, but the court denied the request. Days before Hayden’s death, he made another attempt and pleaded to reduce his past felony charges, but it too went in vain. Three days before Hayden’s death, the prosecution objected to both his motions to expunge and to reduce the charges in a hearing on Aug. 13, 2026.
Despite the restraining order, Brian and Hayden connected secretly. She hid it from her friends so that they would not stop her from getting close to him again. A source close to the couple told Page Six that Brian was supposed to leave, but the two ended up on a flight to South Carolina, where he lives. The source further claimed that Brian kept trying to get back into Hayden's life.
Brian and his brother, Zach, were present with Hayden when she suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away. According to officials, Hayden and her ex-boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, were staying inside an Airbnb rental apartment in Greenville. It was Brian’s brother, Zach Hickerson, who found Hayden in cardiac arrest, while Brian was sleeping in a separate bedroom.
Seeing Hayden losing consciousness, Zach called 911 and then woke his brother. Soon, first responders arrived at the scene and tried to revive Hayden but were unsuccessful; the actress was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m.
What do you think about Hayden Panettiere and Brian Hickerson’s last appearance?
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