Brian Hickerson, Accused Of Domestic Violence, Had Re-Entered Hayden Panettiere's Life Before Death

A heavily redacted Greenville Police Department report confirmed Monday that Brian Hickerson, Hayden Panettiere's on-again, off-again partner who pleaded no contest to two felony counts of domestic violence against her, was present at the Judson Mill Lofts apartment when first responders arrived and found Panettiere unresponsive on Sunday August 16.

His brother Zach was also there. Officers noted Zach was "very emotional" during resuscitation efforts. The report describes Brian as not becoming visibly emotional until after EMS declared her dead at 2:32 PM.

The two had traveled together from Los Angeles to Greenville one day before she died. Panettiere wrote extensively about their relationship, marked by multiple arrests and incidents of abuse, in her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, published just three months before her death.

The additional detail that emerged Monday: on August 13, three days before Panettiere died, a California judge denied Hickerson's petition to reduce his felony domestic violence convictions to misdemeanors and expunge them from his record.

He had pleaded no contest to the charges in 2021 and served time in jail.

No foul play has been indicated in Panettiere's death. The investigation is ongoing.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-7233.