Hayden Panettiere Reportedly Died After Ingesting a Single Fentanyl-Laced Pill
Actress Hayden Panettiere, who passed away last month, reportedly died after taking an oxycodone pain pill laced with fentanyl.
Various law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of her case shared the details with TMZ on Monday.
Those same sources said Panettiere, 36, had a “long time drug dealer” in Los Angeles, California, who had been giving her black-market prescription drugs.
They stressed that a toxicology report, which is still pending, will tell the whole story once finalized.
The outlet also reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration is actively investigating to gather more information.
Police are said to be “zeroing in on a potential drug dealer” in the case, according to the New York Post.
The newspaper noted that Panettiere’s on-again off-again ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson already met with DEA officials and told them she had a “bag of medication with her” the day of her death.
Greenville City Police redacted the names of drugs Panettiere had been taking, but there were nine different types listed.
Hickerson was there when she died and attempted to administer Narcan, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
According to previous reporting, Panettiere’s relationship with Hickerson was strained and seemed to end in 2020 when she accused him of domestic violence.
In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” released several months ago, she wrote that Hickerson once beat her so badly that she remained inside for weeks thereafter.
Panettiere was best known playing Claire Bennett on the hit NBC show “Heroes” and for her role as Sheryl Yoast in Disney’s “Remember the Titans.”
She’d been open about her struggles with drinking, addiction, and depression throughout her career.
Panettiere told People magazine in 2022 that someone on her team offered her “happy pills” to prepare for red carpet walks when she was only 15 years old.
“They were to make me peppy during interviews,” she said. “I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”
Panettiere began drinking alcohol and taking opioids as her career took off.
“My saving grace is that I couldn’t be messy while on set and working,” she explained. “But things kept getting out of control [off set]. And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”
Panettiere began drinking so heavily that she developed a liver condition that can cause jaundice, which turns the skin yellow.
“Doctors told me my liver was going to give out,” she revealed. “A doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years.”
Panettiere’s brother, Jansen, also died young due to a heart condition back in 2023 at the age of 28. He was also an actor but never achieved the same level of fame as his sister.
During a 2024 interview, Panettiere opened up about her brother’s death, saying, “He was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him.”
“When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul,” she concluded.
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