Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, has spoken publicly about her daughter’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, as police visited his family home in the days following her death.
NTD reached out to the Greeneville Police Department seeking additional information Wednesday afternoon but did not receive a response by publication.
Panettiere, known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, died on Aug. 16 at age 36. According to a police report released on Tuesday, Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were at the South Carolina apartment when Panettiere died.
Her mother spoke with NBC News two days later, expressing concern about Panettiere’s longtime boyfriend, whom she had previously described as a source of serious concern for the family. Hickerson was convicted in 2021 in a domestic-violence case involving Panettiere.
Vogel also told NBC that a narcotics investigator was called to assist in the police probe of her death.
The police report states that Brian Hickerson did not become visibly emotional until paramedics officially declared Panettiere deceased. Zach Hickerson, meanwhile, appeared “very emotional” while emergency personnel were attempting to revive Panettiere, the officer wrote.
Brian Hickerson ultimately showed police a bag containing medication that he claimed Panettiere had been taking. The specific medications were redacted from the report.
After she was declared dead, the responding officer spoke to Brian Hickerson more, but details of their conversation were not disclosed.
Panetierre’s mother said that growing up in the entertainment industry had been particularly difficult for her daughter and that she “sadly lost her way.”
Panettiere and her mother had an estranged relationship that she documented in her 2026 memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning."
She wrote about the difficulties of having Vogel serve both as her mother and manager. Nevertheless, the actress said earlier this year that she hoped the door to reconciliation with her mother remained open.
In her memoir, Panettiere also reflected on the lasting scars of her early fame while also opening up about her struggles with alcohol addiction and postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in 2014.
Meanwhile, authorities have said there were no initial indications of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An autopsy has been completed, but the official cause and manner of death remain pending while investigators await toxicology results, which the coroner's office said could take as long as eight weeks.
Panettiere would have turned 37 on Friday.