A convicted domestic abuser who served just 45 days in jail for felony violence against Hayden Panettiere was at the apartment where the 36-year-old actress was found dead Sunday — and three days later, police could only manage a polite knock on his family's door. While working Americans sit in cells for petty offenses, Brian Hickerson's consequences never matched his crimes, and now the woman he beat is dead with him in the next room.
Hickerson, 37, and his brother Zach called 911 after finding Panettiere unresponsive at a Greenville, South Carolina, apartment on Aug. 16, according to the police report obtained by Fox News Digital. Dispatch audio obtained by Page Six described the call as an apparent "overdose" leading to "cardiac arrest." Hickerson handed officers a "bag of medication" belonging to Panettiere — contents redacted in the report, according to The Independent. An autopsy found no signs of trauma. Toxicology results are pending and could take up to 12 weeks.
The responding officer noted Zach Hickerson was "very emotional" while paramedics worked on Panettiere, but Brian "did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased." The police report's details of the officer's follow-up conversation with Brian are entirely redacted.
This is the same Brian Hickerson who was arrested in 2019 and 2020 on multiple felony domestic violence charges — including assault with a deadly weapon — against Panettiere. In 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts. The remaining six charges were dismissed in the plea deal. His sentence: 45 days in county jail, four years' probation, 52 domestic violence classes, and a five-year restraining order. Fox News reported that just three days before Panettiere's death, Hickerson appeared in a Los Angeles court asking a judge to reduce his felony convictions to misdemeanors. The judge denied the request.
Page Six reported Hickerson filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, listing zero monthly income and roughly $60,000 in liabilities. The aspiring actor's assets included a 1990 Ford Bronco, an inoperable Prius, and $100 worth of jewelry.
Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, blasted Hickerson, according to Breitbart. In her memoir published this May, Panettiere herself wrote that she wanted Hickerson "in jail just long enough to scare him, but not long enough where he'd become a worse person." She wrote about deciding to "let go of my resentment" and forgive the man she met in 2018.
On Wednesday, three days after the death, two Greenville police cars were seen outside a property owned by Hickerson's grandmother. Officers knocked repeatedly. No one answered. It is not known why they were there.
The celebrity press has focused on tributes and red-carpet memories. Us Weekly buried the domestic violence history; The Independent led with Hickerson's presence but softened the frame with Hollywood remembrances. Only Fox News and Breitbart foregrounded the abuser's record and his recent effort to scrub his convictions.
A convicted felon who beat his girlfriend for years got weeks in jail, walked out, and was back in her orbit. Now she's dead, and the only police response visible so far is knocking on a door that nobody opens.
