Hayden Panettiere died from accidental overdose involving fentanyl, coroner says

By JEFFREY COLLINS, Associated Press Actor Hayden Panettiere died from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl, a coroner in South Carolina said Tuesday. Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 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, was found in Panettiere’s system.

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Scoop News DeskOrlando, Florida · Published Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 3:56 PM UTCUpdated Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 4:24 PM UTC

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Her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who was also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023, at age 28. He was charged in 2020 with multiple counts of felony abuse, and he pleaded no contest to two counts of injuring a spouse or partner and served a short time in jail due to the case. By 2015, Panettiere was playing a brash country upstart opposite Connie Britton on “Nashville,” which aired on ABC for four seasons before being canceled and revived on CMT.