Hayden Panettiere allegedly took a pill laced with fentanyl on the day she died, according to a new report.
The beloved actress died last month in Greenville, South Carolina, at the age of 36.
Sources told TMZ that Panettiere took oxycodone allegedly contaminated with fentanyl. The potent opioid is estimated to be 50 times stronger than heroin, and even a few grains can result in a fatal overdose.
According to the outlet, the mother of one had purchased several black-market prescription drugs, including oxycodone, from a longtime drug dealer in Los Angeles.
Panettiere and her on-and-off boyfriend, Los Angeles real estate agent Brian Hickerson, traveled from Los Angeles to South Carolina—his home state—the day before her death.
Panettiere is seen on May 19, 2026, in New York City while promoting her new book. Her death came just months after her memoir, This Is Me, became a New York Times bestseller. In the months before her passing, the actress spoke openly about the challenges of fame, particularly those she faced as a child star.
Beloved actress Hayden Panettiere died at 36, leaving behind her 11-year-old daughter. Panettiere is pictured attending the Met Gala in 2014.
TMZ reported that Panettiere brought several drugs purchased in Los Angeles with her on the flight. Authorities allegedly believe the pill she took on the morning of her death had been laced with fentanyl.
Hickerson reportedly found Panettiere unresponsive and administered Narcan, a medication used to rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Investigators are now working to trace the fatal pill to the person who allegedly sold it to Panettiere, sources told the outlet.
No arrests have been made in connection with Panettiere’s death at this time.
Hickerson reportedly met with Drug Enforcement Administration investigators last week as the agency continued examining the circumstances surrounding her death.
The DEA’s involvement aligns with paramedics reporting a suspected overdose over dispatch calls. First responders located Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, inside the apartment where Panettiere was found dead.
Panettiere died at the end of a long struggle with alcohol and opiates, spending eight months in rehab in 2020 after contracting jaundice and being informed by her doctor that ‘if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years,’ as she wrote in her memoir.
Hickerson was on the scene along with his brother Zachary when she was pronounced dead, according to a police report.
Brian and Panettiere pictured in LA in December of 2018
Panettiere started out as a child star, with her first acting gig at just 11 months old
The Hollywood star is pictured here at a gala in Hollywood in 2022
Zach was arrested last week for disorderly conduct following a bar brawl after he and Brian were reportedly heckled over Panettiere’s death.
Over the course of their turbulent relationship, Hickerson faced multiple domestic violence charges, and in 2021 he served 13 days in custody for injuring her.
After she was declared dead, Hickerson is said to have handed the authorities a ‘bag of medication’ she had been taking, per the police report.
Detectives confirmed to Our News Outlet that they responded to an apartment block in Greenville after they received a 911 call from an ‘acquaintance’ of Panettiere, describing her as ‘unresponsive.’
In the dispatch audio of the call made at 1.51pm, a female dispatcher described Panettiere as suffering a ‘cardiac arrest.’ A few moments later a male dispatcher could be heard saying that Panettiere had suffered a suspected overdose at the home.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said that Panettiere’s autopsy had been completed and that no signs of trauma were found on the star’s body.
The former child star was known for her roles on the hit NBC series Heroes and musical drama Nashville.
The Hollywood star earned multiple award nominations across her career, most notably while playing cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville.
The actress’s younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, passed away in February 2023 from ‘an enlarged heart’. They are seen together here in 2011
Panettiere also appeared in the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed, and lent her voice to the video games Until Dawn and Kingdom Hearts.
She is predeceased by her brother, Jansen, who passed away in February 2023 from ‘an enlarged heart’ at the age of 28.
Panettiere said that she felt like she ‘lost half of her soul’ following his death, and revealed that the stress of his loss resulted in her body ‘ballooning out,’ which left her in a ‘really bad’ and ‘destructive’ place.
The tragic news of her death comes just months after her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, became a New York Times bestseller. In the book, Panettiere described how she contended with fame and handled the difficulties in her life.
She had suffered from drug addiction, beginning when she was just 15 years old. At the time, she claimed she started taking ‘happy pills’ in an effort to make her seem more ‘peppy’ during interviews.
Her addiction then became worse while she was battling postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya in 2014.
This is a breaking news story.
