A newly released, redacted incident report provides new details in the death of actress Hayden Panettiere.
A newly released, redacted incident report provides new details in the death of actress Hayden Panettiere.
Police responded Aug. 16 to an apartment at Judson Mill, 701 Easley Bridge Road, after receiving a call about an unresponsive person. When Greenville police officers arrived, multiple EMS and fire personnel were performing CPR on a woman identified in the report as Panettiere.
The report states that EMS continued life-saving efforts "for an extended amount of time" before declaring Panettiere dead at 2:31 p.m. The officer wrote that there did not appear to be any obvious physical reason for her being unresponsive.
Two men, Zack and Brian Hickerson, were identified in the report as witnesses. Investigators spoke with them while EMS crews were treating Panettiere, and both remained at the apartment before being escorted into the hallway after she was pronounced dead.
The reporting officer said he first spoke with Zach Hickerson, who said the woman was his brother's girlfriend. The officer then spoke with Brian Hickerson. The report redacts what each man told the officer, other than that they called 911.
The incident report noted that Zach Hickerson was “very emotional” while EMS crews were trying to revive Panettiere, while Brian Hickerson did not become emotional until after Panettiere had been declared dead.
According to the police report, they spoke with Brian Hickerson more in-depth after Panettiere was declared dead, but the information shared with the officer was redacted in the report. Brian also showed police a "bag of medication Hayden is currently on," according to the report.
REDACTED INCIDENT REPORT:
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The death was being investigated by the Greenville Police Department's violent-crimes unit. A detective took over the investigation, and a coroner's unit also responded to the scene.
Police also said a courtesy officer at Judson Mill had surveillance footage showing all three individuals coming and going from the apartment. Investigators planned to obtain that footage as part of the investigation.
The report also states that officers assisted with the execution of a search warrant and that body-camera footage recorded an interview conducted by a detective with one of the witnesses.
The incident report does not state a cause or manner of death. Several portions of the narrative are redacted, so additional details about what happened before police arrived are not available in the document provided.
Police listed the case as a death investigation and marked it for follow-up investigation.
