Celebrity3 min(s) read
Police arrive at boyfriend Brian Hickerson’s family home days after Hayden Panettiere’s death
Police officers have turned up at Brian and Zach Hickerson’s grandmother’s home in Greenville, South Carolina, mere days after actress Hayden Panettiere was found dead in a nearby Airbnb.
According to Page Six, two patrol cars displaying the Greenville Police Department (GPD) logos were spotted arriving at the house, which belongs to one Betty Ellison, at around 8:20 AM on Wednesday (August 19).
The publication stated that an officer approached the property and repeatedly knocked on the front door, to no response.
Her colleague then tried the side door, but after no success, they left around three minutes later.
Zach, 38, was spotted at the home on Tuesday.
The four-bedroom home, which had its blinds closed all morning, is located just five miles from the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex, where Panettiere was found deceased on Sunday.
While authorities suspect an overdose, this is yet to be confirmed.
A GPD representative told the publication that officers were responding to a request for a welfare check, but the individual or individuals involved were not specified.
Authorities responded to calls of a woman in cardiac arrest
Police and medics responded to the Airbnb where the Heroes actor "had been temporarily staying" after getting a call about a woman undergoing cardiac arrest.
Brian, who had an on-again, off-again relationship with the former child star over the years, was reportedly asleep in the bedroom when Zach walked in and found Panettiere "unresponsive."
Zach described Panettiere to cops as his "brother's girlfriend," as rumors had circulated that the couple were back together despite breaking up as the result of numerous allegations of domestic violence, several arrests and criminal pleas.
The device used to dispense Narcan, a medicine typically used to quickly reverse an opioid overdose, was found at the scene of Hayden Panettiere’s death.
Sources state that the equipment was found on a mattress inside the apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, where the actress died.
It is currently unknown if Panettiere received the dose of Narcan or if another person in distress at the apartment received it. According to 911 dispatch audio, the Nashville alum died after an "overdose".
Hickerson's legal troubles
Three days before Panettiere's death, Hickerson had his request to reduce his past felony charges denied.
Back in April 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend after being arrested in Los Angeles and being hit with an eight-count criminal indictment.
These charges stemmed from multiple incidents involving Panettiere between May 2019 and January 2020.
In an Aug 13 hearing, the prosecution objected to both his motions to reduce the charges to a misdemeanor, as Page Six reported.
Hickerson was sentenced to 45 days in county jail back in 2021, as well as four years of formal probation, 52 mandatory domestic violence classes and a five-year restraining order.
Sources suggested that the former couple rekindled their relationship in the months before her death, but they kept it private to avoid public scrutiny.
These claims were never confirmed.