The brother of Hayden Panettiere‘s boyfriend revealed that Brian Hickerson administered Narcan to the actor after both found her unconscious at a South Carolina townhouse on Sunday.
Zach Hickerson wrote to TMZ on Friday, giving the outlet a detailed account of what he experienced the day that the Heroes and Nashville actor was found unresponsive in the Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina, where the on-off couple had just arrived. Brian Hickerson dated Panettiere on and off since 2018; he was arrested several times in the subsequent years for domestic abuse and, at one point, pleaded no contest to two felony charges related to an assault against Panettiere.
A heavily redacted incident report from the Greenville Police Department released this week reveals details of the brothers’ reaction to Panettiere’s death. After first responders attempted but failed to revive Panettiere, Brian Hickerson became very emotional, according to the report; he also showed authorities a bag containing medication he said she was taking.
Zach Hickerson reached out to TMZ to clarify the public record on what he experienced on Sunday so that he can now “mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public.”
“There are a lot of assumptions, speculations and accusations currently swirling,” he said in his statement, which TMZ published on Friday. “The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation. And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth.”
Zach said that on Sunday morning he attended a church service and, on his way, exchanged messages with Brian; they planned to get lunch and play indoor golf together after the service. When he left church, he called and texted both Panettiere and his brother. He said he assumed they had fallen back asleep, so he drove to the Airbnb where the two were staying in Greenville, where the brothers’ grandmother also lives. He said he did not have the door code and was unable to enter.
A loud knock on the door woke his brother, he said; both Brian and Panettiere had been asleep on the fold-out couch in the townhouse’s living room.
“When we went in and tried to wake Hayden up for lunch, we realized she was unconscious,” he recalled. “I immediately called 911 and Brian gave her Narcan. We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived. At that point we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.”
A Narcan bottle was reported to have been at the scene of the actor’s death, and reports emerged that first responders had discussed an “overdose.” The account from the younger brother of Panettiere’s boyfriend and longtime abuser confirms that Panettiere was potentially the victim of a drug overdose.
Zach Hickerson expressed his deep sense of loss over Panettiere’s death.
“I am beyond heartbroken and devastated by this tragic and traumatic loss,” he told TMZ. “Hayden was one of my dearest and closest friends that I loved and cared about for the last 8 years.”
