Greenville, South Carolina police officers conducted a welfare check at the family home of Brian Hickerson Wednesday morning — three days after Hickerson and his brother Zach were present at the apartment where actress Hayden Panettiere was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead — as authorities continue a death investigation that remains open.
Panettiere, 36, best known for her role as Claire Bennet on the NBC series "Heroes" and as Juliette Barnes on "Nashville," was found unresponsive at the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville at approximately 1:58 p.m. on August 16. First responders performed CPR but were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead at 2:31 p.m. An autopsy was completed Monday by the Greenville County Coroner's Office, but no cause of death has been publicly released. A police incident report obtained by multiple outlets confirms that both Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were present at the scene. Zach was the one who found Panettiere unresponsive. Brian was asleep at the time and, according to the incident report, did not become visibly emotional until EMS officially pronounced her dead — a detail that drew immediate public attention. Brian Hickerson also showed an officer a bag of medications Panettiere had been taking.
"The call is unrelated to the Hayden Panettiere death investigation and did not require an incident report." — Greenville Police Department spokesperson, on the Wednesday welfare check at the Hickerson family home
Two uniformed Greenville officers arrived at the Hickerson family home on Wednesday morning. One knocked on the front door while another approached a side entrance. No one answered. The officers left and returned approximately an hour and a half later for what the Greenville Police Department described as a welfare check. Zach Hickerson, 38, was reportedly inside the home at the time. Police said the welfare check was unrelated to the Panettiere death investigation. The context that renders that clarification complicated: Brian Hickerson has a documented history of felony domestic violence against Panettiere. He was convicted of seven felony domestic violence charges involving the actress in 2021 and served 18 months in prison. Just days before her death, a Los Angeles County judge denied his attempt to have those convictions dismissed or reduced.
The news of Panettiere's death sent immediate waves of grief through Hollywood and across the Atlantic, where former boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko — the father of her daughter, Kaya — shared a tribute calling Panettiere a woman of immense talent who also faced the darker sides of a demanding industry. Kaya, now approximately 11 years old, has been living in Ukraine with Klitschko. Panettiere had spent recent years battling addiction and speaking publicly about the connection between her postpartum depression and her subsequent struggles.
Hayden Panettiere began her career as a child actress and rose to mainstream fame with her starring role in "Heroes" from 2006 to 2010. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in "Nashville." She was an outspoken animal rights activist who participated in anti-dolphin hunting protests in Japan. She is survived by her daughter Kaya Klitschko and her parents, Lesley and Skip Panettiere. Her brother Jansen Panettiere died in February 2023 at age 28.
The circumstances surrounding Hayden Panettiere's death deserve a thorough and transparent investigation. A 36-year-old woman found unresponsive in an apartment she shared with a man who was convicted of repeatedly beating her, whose conviction was still being actively litigated days before her death — these are facts that the public and her family are entitled to have addressed clearly and completely. The investigation is ongoing. The questions are legitimate. Panettiere's life was worth more than the narrative that too often defined its final years, and she deserves answers.