GREENVILLE, SC. (THECOUNT) — Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were at the South Carolina apartment complex where actress Hayden Panettiere went into cardiac arrest Sunday, according to a police report.
The report, cited by NBC News, says both brothers were inside the complex when emergency medical personnel responded to a call involving an unresponsive woman. Panettiere, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Zach was described in the report as “very emotional” while emergency medical personnel worked to save Panettiere.
Brian, meanwhile, reportedly did not become visibly emotional until after Panettiere was pronounced dead. He also showed responding officers a bag containing medications the actress had been taking at the time of her death.
Panettiere and Hickerson had a complicated relationship that had largely remained out of the public spotlight in the period leading up to her death.
TMZ previously reported that the pair had rekindled their romantic relationship but chose to keep it private. A source close to Hickerson said the couple had not separated as many times as their public history suggested and were romantically involved while Panettiere promoted her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
According to the source, Panettiere’s team had advised her to publicly distance herself from Hickerson, even though the two remained together privately.
Hickerson had previously been arrested and convicted in connection with domestic violence involving Panettiere. The couple’s relationship had been the subject of considerable public attention before they eventually attempted to keep their personal lives private.
Panettiere was found unresponsive Sunday afternoon at a residence in Greenville. Emergency responders were dispatched at approximately 1:50 p.m. after receiving a report involving a woman in cardiac arrest.
Paramedics performed CPR and advanced cardiac life-support measures in an effort to revive the actress, but she was pronounced dead at approximately 2:32 p.m.
Authorities have said there were no initial signs of foul play and that the circumstances surrounding Panettiere’s death did not appear suspicious.
A Greenville County coroner is conducting an autopsy as authorities work to establish the official cause and manner of death. A possible overdose was mentioned in dispatch communications, but that does not establish the cause of Panettiere’s death.
Panettiere became a household name as a child actress before achieving widespread fame for her role as Claire Bennet on Heroes and later as Juliette Barnes on Nashville. Her film credits included Remember the Titans, Raising Helen, Ice Princess and Scream 4.
She is survived by her only child, Kaya Klitschko, whom she shared with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Panettiere was 36.
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