Dead actress Hayden Panettiere lover under fire as mother alleges cover-up

The mystery surrounding the tragic death of 36-year-old Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere has taken a dark turn as federal drug agents zero in on her convicted abuser boyfriend, Brian Hickerson.

Following a suspected fatal overdose in South Carolina, Hickerson is now reportedly being grilled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in a frantic federal manhunt to track down the dealer who supplied the lethal drugs.

But in a shocking twist, the grieving mother of the Heroes star is demanding a deeper police probe into the boyfriend himself, publicly crying foul and declaring that Hickerson’s account of her daughter’s final moments is “full of holes.”

Investigators from the DEA stepped into the case after paramedics responded to an overdose dispatch call on August 16 at the actress’s Greenville apartment. First responders on the scene reportedly discovered Narcan—a nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses—inside the residence.

According to TMZ, federal and local authorities believe an unidentified drug dealer supplied the fatal dose, prompting a massive hunt.

However, intense scrutiny has quickly shifted to the chilling behaviour of Hickerson, who was at the scene when Panettiere was pronounced dead.

Police reports indicate that while Hickerson’s brother, Zachary, was visibly emotional during attempts to revive the actress, Hickerson himself remained strangely impassive until she was declared dead. He then reportedly handed law enforcement officers a “bag of medication” that the actress had allegedly been taking.

This bizarre reaction has fuelled explosive allegations from Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, who is aggressively pushing law enforcement to treat Hickerson with intense suspicion.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Vogel claimed that Hickerson and her daughter shared a dangerously toxic “codependent bond.” She outright rejected his version of the night’s events, pressuring South Carolina police to dig deeper into what truly happened in the apartment.

Hickerson’s presence at the death scene has reignited public outrage over his long, violent history with the late star.

Over the course of their turbulent relationship, the convicted felon was repeatedly arrested for brutally assaulting the actress. In 2021, he served time behind bars and was handed a four-year probation sentence after pleading no contest to two felony counts of injuring Panettiere.

Shockingly, court documents reveal that just three days before Panettiere was found dead, a Los Angeles judge denied Hickerson’s legal petition to have his felony abuse charges wiped from his record.

Hayden Panettiere, who voluntarily gave up custody of her 11-year-old daughter to Ukrainian boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2018, had fought a long, public battle with alcohol and opioid addiction. She previously revealed that she began abusing “happy pills” as a teenager.

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