Cops Probe Hayden Panettiere's Terrifying Last Moments

What was happening in Hayden Panitiier's. life before she died? What did her. on-again off-again boyfriend Brian. [music] Hickerson, who was reportedly. present at the scene, say just months. earlier? His brother just shared his. version of the day, too. We want to. analyze the [music] actress's last. sightings, movement, statements before. her death as investigators piece. together what happened. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. [music] I'm Jesse Weber. I want to follow up on the.

investigation, specifically the. timeline, the sequence of events leading. up to Hayden Panetier's untimely death. because we have some additional details. that we're going to talk about, and I. want to recall what happened here. Okay. The 36-year-old actress was found. unresponsive and in cardiac arrest on. Sunday, August 16th. This was at an. apartment where she was temporarily. staying, seemingly this Airbnb out in. Greenville, South Carolina. According to. the Greenville County Coroner's Office, at approximately 1:51 p.m., a 911 call.

was received reporting a cardiac arrest. at 7:01 Easley Bridge Road in. Greenville. First responders and EMS, emergency medical services. They arrived. on scene. They located a female in. cardiac arrest. EMS personnel initiated. advanced cardiac life support. However, these resuscitation efforts were. unsuccessful and the individual was. pronounced deceased at 2:32 p.m. And.

here is actually a portion of that. dispatch audio. >> V12 respond for cardiac arrest, Justin. Milw, 701 East Road, Department 129, 7001 East Road, Department 129. Car V1. engine be responding for cardiac arrest. Justin Milwalk 701 Eastley Bridge Road. Apartment 129. 7001 East Road Apartment. 129 one minute 29 responding. >> in place of medic 29. Easily Bridge Road. overdose CPR is in progress.

>> You hear the term overdose there right. now. To be clear, we don't know exactly. what happened yet. It's been reported. that while an autopsy found no signs of. trauma contributing to Hayden's death, her official cause and manner of death. have not been officially determined. because authorities, the officials are. awaiting the toxicology findings, which. could take some time. Now, we have also. learned that reportedly the hero's.

actress on again off-again boyfriend. Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach. were at the scene and placed the 911. phone call. CNN is reporting that the. police report indicates that an officer. interviewed the brothers with the police. report saying, quote, "I spoke with Zach. Hickerson first. He advised this was his. brother's girlfriend." Now, that's. significant because of the status of the. relationship. will talk about it. But by. the way, this report that is circulating. online also suggests that the officer.

spoke with Brian, too. But much of the. contents of that conversation or. conversations are redacted. They're. blacked out. Now, something else I want. to mention about this report. It. indicates that the officers observed. Zach to be quote very emotional while. EMS were working on Hayden. Brian did. not become emotional until EMS declared. her officially deceased. Take that for. what you will. People respond. differently in different situations, but. it was seemingly noted in the report.

Now, CNN is also reporting that Brian. Hickerson allegedly showed officers a. bag of medications at this apartment. This is per the report, too. But now, and this is significant, this is new, Zach has apparently spoken to TMZ and. provided more details about what. allegedly happened. Because according to. TMZ, Zach claims that his brother Brian. gave Hayden Panitier Narcan after they. found her unconscious that day. Now, timeline for a second, right? It has.

also been reported that Brian Hickerson. and Hayden traveled together the day. before she died. Now, I'm going to get. into their tumultuous history spanning. almost 10 years in a bit, but to give. you a timeline, okay, this is. significant because according to E! news. The two traveled from LA to South. Carolina on August 15th. Zach reportedly. told TMZ that he didn't hear from them, that he went to church that morning, was. texting Brian that they had plans to all. grab lunch and play indoor golf, but. then he didn't hear from them. According.

to him, he goes to that Greenville. Airbnb again that day on the 16th. Knocks on the door. Brian, according to. him, wakes up from a nap, and this is. when they find Hayden unconscious. And. Brian allegedly gives her Narcan. This. is used to treat an opioid overdose. This is a quote from Zach to TMZ. I. knocked loudly, which apparently woke. Brian up from a nap they were both. taking on the pull out couch bed in the. living room. When we went in and tried. to wake Hayden up for lunch, we realized.

she was unconscious. I immediately. called 911 and Brian gave her Narcan. We. then jointly performed CPR while 911 was. on speaker until fire and EMS arrived. At that point, we watched as they tried. every measure possible to save her life. Now, again, this is his apparent. version. Zach says there are a lot of. assumptions, speculations, and. accusations currently swirling. The. truth will come out as the authorities. complete and release additional details. from the investigation. And that is.

important because the people who loved. and adored Hayden deserve the truth. I. am beyond heartbroken and devastated by. this tragic and traumatic loss. Hayden. was one of my dearest and closest. friends that I loved and cared about for. the last eight years. Out of respect for. her loved ones, the speculation and. sensationalism of her death needs to end. until the facts can be released from the. investigation. All right, I know this is. a 180, but I got to say it. Look, if. you're a business owner out there, running a business is tough enough. Why.

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odo.com/sidebar. TMZ has also reported that law. enforcement sources told them that. authorities are investigating whether a. crime has been committed largely because. Hayden's death was so unexpected. Law. enforcement is investigating at the same. time as the coroner. And then you couple. that with reporting by multiple outlets. like Fox, CNN, New York Times, the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the. feds have join the investigation, which. I'll talk about a little bit more later.

on. Back to the timeline. Okay. One of. the last times that we saw Hayden. Panetier publicly was apparently at. LaGuardia Airport. This was back in May. It was also reported by TMZ. and she was. asked on her way into the airport with a. friend about something else that. happened this year. You know what else. happened this year? Her memoir came out. This is me, a reckoning. Now, at the. airport, she sort of dodged questions.

She smiled briefly. She was asked about. her description in the book of trying. shrooms for the first time during. filming of Scream 4. And then she was. also asked about a yacht incident. That's because that same month in May, she went on the OnPurpose with J Shetty. podcast where she claims that one night. she was out, she was having fun, she. went on a boat with some friends. And. this is when she said she was quote led. by somebody that I had grown to trust. and see as a protector and somebody who. had my back. That she was led down the.

stairs into a quote very small room. She. physically put me in the bed next to. this undressed man who was very famous. There was no jumping off and swimming. away and there was nobody who was going. to be empathetic to my situation. I. realized that this was nothing new to. them. So this is what she was asked at. the airport just a few months before she. died. Now Hayden has been quite open. about the struggles, the turmoil, the. drama of her life that included.

suffering from postpartum depression, from substance abuse issues. This was. all after the birth of her daughter Kaia. in 2014. She shared her daughter with. former fiance and boxer Vladimir. Klitschko. And it seems in light of what. she had been going through that back in. 2018, she sent Kaya to live with. Vladimir Klitschko in Ukraine, saying it. was quote the hardest thing I have ever. had to do. Adding quote but I wanted to. be a good mom to her and sometimes that.

means letting them go. And it would only. be a few years later that there was. another horrific tragedy in her life. 2023. This is when her brother Jansen. died at only 28 years of age from an. enlarged heart with aortic valve. complications. Hayden told Jay Shetty in. that podcast, "There was nothing in my. life that feels like losing my other. half. we were so close and being the. older sibling who it's your job to.

protect them and keep them safe and not. being able to heartbreaking doesn't even. begin to cover it. So, you're just. getting a sense of what she had gone. through in recent years as we try to. examine the circumstances surrounding. her death. And a lot of the conversation. now and a lot of the focus of her. timeline is also regarding her. controversial relationship with the. person I mentioned before, Brian. Hickerson, specifically domestic.

violence, which she recounted in her. memoir, saying, quote, "What I never. told them was that the abuse I'd endured. didn't feel as bad as the thought of. being alone. One night he busts up my. face so badly I don't leave the house. for weeks." And this is when she just. refers to a Brian. You never forget the. first time someone slaps you, nor do you. forget the last. 2019, Hickerson is. charged out in California with a felony. count of injuring a spouse, cohabitant, fiance's, boyfriend, girlfriend, or. child's parent. 2021. As part of a plea.

arrangement, Hickerson is convicted of. two felony counts of injuring a spouse, cohabitant, fiance's boyfriend, girlfriend, or child's parent in. connection with the incidents back in. 2019. This is according to the Superior. Court of Los Angeles County Clerk's. Office. And he would be sentenced to. four years of formal probation. This is. according to the clerk's office. Back in. August of 2022, Hickerson was sentenced. again to several years of probation for. violating his probation, and was. required to complete a year-long. domestic violence treatment program,

attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and complete dozens of anger management. sessions. This is all according to court. records. He also apparently tried to get. the court to reduce his felony. convictions to just misdemeanors. Wasn't. successful. Apparently even tried to do. so as recently as August 13th. This is. according to court records, but again. wasn't successful. The Hollywood. reporter spoke with a Mia Terzis who. claims to have been Hayden Panitiier's. neighbor in West Hollywood and says she. called 911 at least a half a dozen times.

to report disturbances and says she. absolutely saw signs of domestic. violence telling the outlet quote I saw. her leaving on a gurnie. Brian was right. next to her and I asked her if she was. okay and it looked to me that she had. suffered some type of trauma that looked. to be battering. It was clear she was. terrified. Page Six has reported that a. flyer with Brian Hickerson was posted by. Hayden's Buildings Homeowners. Association out in West Hollywood back.

in August of 2025, so a year ago, urging. Hayden's neighbors to call the police if. they saw Hickerson, writing that he has. quote been seen trespassing the common. areas and hallways. Please not grant him. access into the building. And then this. happened. Timeline, right? May 2026, so. we're talking about the time when the. memoir is released. Months before. Hayden's death, Brian Hickerson himself. sits down for an interview with TMZ's. Charlie Nef. He said, among other. things, that the memoir speaks for.

itself, that he understands if people. are pissed off at him because he admits. he got arrested for abusing Hayden. Recounted how, you know, at one time he. had a lot to drink, how he got arrested, he got physical with her, that he had. opportunities to apologize. He even. said, quote, "We didn't have a very good. pass, did we?" Even recalled a story. where he claimed he had a phone in his. hand and said to Hayden, "I'll give you. 10 seconds to run before I throw it at. you." He said again during the time of. this interview that at the time their.

relationship was one of mutual respect, that he always holds a special place in. his heart for her. Still thinks about. marrying her, although he said she. probably doesn't feel the same way. That. he has regrets. That he's been working. on himself. that he's been working with. actor Shia Labuff in an AA group. Actually said the actor saved his life, but at the same time said about the. abuse, quote, "People do this all the. time. You think I'm the only one that. did that?" No. So, it is interesting to. hear that in May and then think about. what happened between them and then her.

death because the New York Times is. reporting that it was only a few months. ago that Hay and Panitier have. reportedly hired security to keep Brian. Hickerson away. Now, I have to be clear. about something, okay? No one has been. accused of a crime here. No one has been. charged with a crime here in any way. Despite what you see online, despite the. speculation and rumors and innuendos or. whatever it is or insinuations, to be. clear, there is no one who has been. accused of committing a crime in.

connection with Hayden Paniter's death. Now, the other day I had a chance to. speak with Matt Irvine, retired. detective, and I spoke to him about what. we should be expecting here, about some. aspects of this investigation, what we. should be looking out for, and why the. DEA is involved. Take a look. Why bring. the DEA on board? Yeah, that's a very interesting question. because the DEA typically does not get. involved in cases that appear to be uh.

suspected overdoses even if there is. possibly some suspicion of foul play. I. would expect that the reason the DEA is. involved is they believe that uh the. substances that may have contributed to. uh Aiden Penitentary's death um may be. connected to a person or organization. that is already the subject of their. investigation. Well, the DEA has massive. resources. They have a tremendous uh. forensic capacity and this is a case.

certainly where it uh appears that they. are already looking at uh. communications, looking at devices. Uh. the DEA, if they've already got a. personal organization under. investigation, has a lot of intelligence. uh on that target that they can leverage. uh to support this investigation. I. don't know what the law is in South. Carolina in terms of being able to. charge somebody with homicide uh for. causing the death of another person. through the provision of illicit.

substances. But that is certainly a. possibility and and the Matthew Perry. case would be the most famous example. >> When I say to authorities are. investigating if a crime was committed, if there was some sense of illegality, particularly because her death was so. sudden, what are they looking for? What. are they what are they who are they. interviewing? How does it work in terms. of trying to see if a crime was. committed? >> Well, there's a couple of ways that a. crime could be involved here. I mean, it. is certainly not uh immaterial that she.

died in the company of uh Brian. Hickerson who has been convicted of uh. felony abuse against her. When women die. uh when they are murdered, it is very. often by intimate partners. So. absolutely that possibility needs to be. part of any uh state investigation. Uh. beyond any possible culpability on Mr. Hickerson's part, there is the question. of again if this is a case where she. died because she was provided with some. kind of illicit substance, where did.

those substances come from? And is it. possible to hold criminally accountable. the person or persons that provided her. with those substances? So there's really. kind of two fronts in terms of looking. at criminality. the possible involvement. of the intimate partner or other persons. that were actually present at the time. that she potentially overdosed. And then. kind of one step out, where did those. substances come from? And can the. personal organization that provided. those substances be held criminally. liable? >> But why do authorities initially say no.

trauma, no suspicious circumstances, no. evidence of foul play? What would lead. them to say that? And how do you. reconcile that with the new reporting. that they're investigating to make sure. a crime wasn't committed? >> Well, both things are possible. When. they say no evidence of foul play, no. trauma, that simply suggests that there. was no indication that she was beaten, stabbed, shot, or somehow violently. killed. That does not mean that her. death uh whether it be a accidental.

overdose or somebody intentionally. providing her with enough uh drugs to. kill her um is not a separate crime. So. the initial scene did not appear. apparently to show uh a violent death. That doesn't mean that the death is not. potentially a homicide. >> Just to be clear again, I'm going to say. this again. No one has been charged with. a crime. No one has been accused of. committing a crime. No one has been. accused of committing a crime in. connection with Hayden's death. However, generally speaking, how would you know.

whether somebody. was somebody purposely made someone. overdose or tricked them or spike. something or I mean, what would be some. potential evidence there? Again, they're looking closely at. communications and that may show some uh. plan either a plan on her partially to. take substance A when the toxicology. ultimately shows that she died from an. ingestion of substance B. That could.

suggest that somebody gave her something. that she didn't intend to take, that she. didn't have the tolerance for, that was. much more potentially lethal than. whatever it was she intended to ingest. Uh if that was done intentionally, that. could be a crime. Um, it's also possible. again that the persons with her uh had. no knowledge that she was uh ingesting. something that could potentially be. fatal, but the person or organization. that provided those substances knew or. should have known that she was being. provided with something that could kill.

her. And again, uh, if you're obtaining. drugs, uh, particularly in this day and. age and particularly if you're a. celebrity, you're not driving down to. some sketchy corner. you're doing it. probably uh through electronic. communications. >> Let me ask you this. So, it all comes. down to the toxicology test, the. toxicology report, right? I mean, like. how what are those what does that. testing entail? How long does something. like that uh take and how will we find. out the results of that? I imagine, again, I don't know the.

practices in South Carolina, but I would. imagine that once the toxicology is. done, um, that report should be publicly. available, just like autopsy reports are. generally publicly available. The. exception would be if there is an. ongoing criminal investigation and. there's a reason to keep those findings. secret either because they don't want to. tip off the targets of the investigation. or because they intend to present the. findings to a grand jury and don't want. to taint that process. If either of. those things are true, uh it could be a.

while before we find out in order to. protect the integrity of an. investigation. >> And generally speaking, does it take a. while for those tests to come back? Does. it take a while for them to fully do a. complete evaluation of what was in her. system? >> It's typically a matter of weeks. Again, they can rush things uh and the process. itself doesn't take too terribly long. It's just a question of kind of what. their uh procedure is in terms of. bumping the line uh to be crude about it. in a high-profile case. >> Okay, we'll keep a careful eye on what. happens next here on Sidebar. Thank you.

so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can also check us. out on NBC's [music] Peacock as well. If. you want to follow me, ex Instagram, my. NewsNation show, Jesse Weber live, Monday through Friday, 11 [music] p.m. Eastern. See you next time, everybody.