Hayden Panettiere’s death ruled accidental overdose of fentanyl and other drugs

Actor Hayden Panettiere died from an accidental overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl, a coroner in South Carolina has declared.

The 36-year-old was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16.

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 by-product, alongside the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam, a muscle relaxer and a drug used to treat major depression and other serious mental health disorders.

The office did not include further details from the autopsy report in its initial release.

Kasey Kitchen, a publicist for Ms Panettiere's family, told The Associated Press “the investigation is still ongoing and the case is complex".

Greenville Police confirmed Tuesday, local time, that their investigation into Ms Panettiere's death is continuing.

Paramedics attended Ms Panettiere's apartment after a 911 call and performed CPR and other advanced resuscitation efforts for more than 40 minutes before she was declared dead.

The autopsy found no signs of trauma that could have contributed to her death, Greenville County Coroner Mike Ellis said in a statement.

The police report released after her death listed medications Ms Panettiere was taking, but drug names were redacted.

Ms Panettiere soared to fame in the TV shows “Heroes” and “Nashville.” In her memoir “This Is Me,” released in May, she described lifelong scars from her early fame.

The autobiography acknowledged her addiction to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

Family struggles and tragedy were also outlined in the memoir, her parents’ marriage was strained and eventually ended.

Her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023, at age 28.

Ms Panettiere also talked about her long relationship with Brian Hickerson and allegations the aspiring actor physically abused her.

He was charged in 2020 with multiple counts of felony abuse, and pleaded no contest to two counts of injuring a spouse or partner.

Mr Hickerson served 45 days in jail and was sentenced to four years of probation and anger management and alcohol rehabilitation sessions.

A judge was recently asked by Mr Hickerson to reduce his conviction to misdemeanours, the request was denied.

Ms Panettiere was one of two children to former soap opera star, Lesley Vogel and Skip Panettiere, a former New York City fire captain.

She acted in commercials and soap operas, including the troubled character Lizzie Spaulding on “Guiding Light.”

In Ms Panettiere's memoir she wrote the traumas her character endured, from being kidnapped to killing her mother’s boyfriend, led her to associate “catastrophe with adoration.”

The actress also said she experienced a cycle of using alcohol and drugs to cope with depression and anxiety, attending rehab in 2015 and 2020.

“I was the one who put myself in the first treatment centre. I was drowning,” Ms Panettier said in a 2023 interview with Women’s Health magazine.