Hayden Panettiere, 36, who died last Sunday from a suspected overdose in the company of her convicted abuser ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson, may have been won over by Hickerson’s “charms,” his sister revealed.
Hickerson’s half-sister Ashley Hickerson told the Daily Mail she “gets” why the actress ultimately went back to her brother, despite suffering years of abuse at his hands.
Panettiere wrote extensively about several incidents during her relationship with the realtor in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, released in May. “The slaps become hits,” she wrote, until he “busts up my face so badly I don’t leave the house for weeks.”
Hickerson, 37, was convicted on two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend following his attacks on the star in 2021, after which Panettiere obtained a restraining order. He served 13 of his 45-day jail sentence. He was also sentenced to four years of probation and 52 domestic violence classes. He confirmed to the Daily Mail in 2022 that the couple had split permanently.
But an alleged insider told Page Six that the star kept her apparent reunion with Hickerson a secret from her friends.
“If I can say one thing about Brian, it’s that he is the most charismatic person and he draws you in,” Ashley told the Daily Mail. “I get why Hayden was with him. Brian is just the type of person who can make you laugh no matter what, and he can be fun.”
As for recurrent physical abuse of Panettiere, which was so bad that the star’s neighbors reportedly banned him from her West Hollywood apartment complex, she said, “We all have our demons.”
“Brian was not raised that way. It wasn’t until he got into drugs that he went south,” she added. The Daily Mail reports that Hickerson had been part of multiple violent incidents before his abuse of Panettiere was made public. He never denied abusing the star.
Hickerson’s brother, Zach, told TMZ that he arrived at an Airbnb for a visit with the couple and found them asleep on a rollaway sofa on August 16. He said he roused Hickerson, but Panettiere was unresponsive, so he and his brother took turns performing CPR.
Zach also said in his statement that his brother gave Panettiere Narcan—a substance used to reverse the effects of an overdose. Authorities attempted to revive the Nashville star on arrival, until she was pronounced dead that afternoon.
The police report said that Brian Hickerson “did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased.”
A preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play, but the actress’s death remains under investigation. Last Wednesday, authorities paid Hickerson’s home a visit.
He broke his silence through his lawyer in a statement to TMZ: “Hayden’s death remains under investigation, and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed. As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play.”
Brian Hickerson added, “Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”
