Hayden Panettiere launched a memoir book tour this spring, discussing her struggles with addiction and an abusive relationship. Before a May appearance at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble, staff were instructed to bar Brian Hickerson, her former boyfriend detailed in the memoir for violence that led to three arrests. Though they reunited on-and-off, private security kept Hickerson away.

Three months later, Hickerson was present when Panettiere was pronounced dead in Greenville, S. C. at age 36. The coroner ruled her death an apparent drug overdose from cardiac arrest.

Police found no signs of foul play. In a statement, Hickerson's lawyers said the investigation must proceed. The toxic relationship weighed down Panettiere's final years, marked by grief, agoraphobia, and chronic pain.

Her mother, Lesley Vogel, recalled taking her to doctors for lower extremity pain. Fitness expert Marnie Alton noted Hickerson often attended training sessions, filming the process. Vogel also revealed Hickerson, who filed for bankruptcy in 2022, had pawned some of Panettiere's belongings, including a vintage guitar, which she discovered in his storage unit.