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 said 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.

According to a statement from the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, a combination of fentanyl and its chemical byproduct, as well as 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, Kasey Kitchen, a publicist for the family, told The Associated Press that “the investigation is still ongoing and the case is complex.”

Greenville Police confirmed Tuesday their investigation into Panettiere’s death is continuing.

Paramedics came to Panettiere’s apartment after a 911 call. Over 40 minutes of CPR and other advanced resuscitation efforts were performed before she was declared dead. No signs of trauma that could have led to her death were found at her autopsy, Greenville County Coroner Mike Ellis said in a statement.

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

Panettiere soared to fame in the TV shows Heroes and Nashville. In her book, Panettiere described lifelong scars from her early fame and acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

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