HAYDEN PANETTIERE DEATH RULED ACCIDENT AFTER NARCAN REPORT
A coroner ruled the Hayden Panettiere death an accident, weeks after TMZ reported Narcan was found in the apartment where she died.
Panettiere, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16, 2026, AP reported. On August 17, 2026, sources in Greenville told TMZ that Narcan was found in the apartment.
The sources said the Narcan dispenser was found on a mattress, and that first responders at the scene mentioned an “overdose” and CPR efforts while reporting to dispatch.
Two ambulances went to the apartment, and no one was transported in either. It was unclear at the time who had received Narcan.
Greenville police said the initial investigation showed no signs of foul play. AP described the emergency call as “cardiac arrest.”
Panettiere starred in the television series “Heroes” and “Nashville.” The coroner’s office described her as “unresponsive” when she was found.
The Narcan details surfaced before any official word on a cause of death.
What happened next
On August 21, 2026, TMZ added a statement it attributed to Zach Hickerson. He said his brother, Brian Hickerson, gave Panettiere Narcan after the two men found her unconscious.
That addressed the question left open in TMZ’s first account: who received the Narcan.
On September 22, 2026, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office ruled the death an accident. NBC News reported the cause was the “toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine.”
The ruling put an official cause on a death that, until then, had been described mostly through emergency-call details and TMZ’s sources.
An autopsy found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death, the coroner’s office said.
CNN reported that the coroner’s report said a powdery substance was found in Panettiere’s suitcase and pills were found on a table. The report said they tested positive for fentanyl.
The report described two men, later identified by police as Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach, as finding Panettiere on a sofa bed. An investigator later found blue pressed pills and a straw on a table, and both tested positive for fentanyl, the report said.
The report also said Panettiere had been in a rehabilitation facility in Malibu in the weeks before her death.
Our earlier coverage looked at Hayden Panettiere having a bag full of medication when she passed away.
The same CNN report said authorities continued investigating whether anyone might be criminally responsible for providing Panettiere with a lethal substance.
Greenville police said the investigation remained active after the cause and manner of death were announced on September 22, 2026.
