Hayden Panettiere‘s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson found himself back in the actress’ life before her shocking death.
“Brian was with her at the time of her death,” the source exclusively shared with Us. “He had inserted himself into her life and was surveilling her.”
According to a Greenville City Police Department incident report obtained by WYFF, officials spoke with Brian, 36, and his brother, Zach Hickerson, at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, on the day of Panettiere’s death.
“After EMS officially declared Hayden deceased, I escorted Zach and Brian out of the apartment,” the police report stated about the events that took place on Sunday, August 16. “I observed Zach to be very emotional while EMS were working on Hayden. Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased.”
According to a source, Brian made steps to connect with Panettiere earlier this year when he needed to crash on her couch.
While he was out of her life for several months this year, things changed this summer, according to the source.
“All was well up until a week ago when she went kind of silent, and then she passed away,” the source adds. “She had a lot to live for. She had plans to go on a girls’ trip. She was going to see her daughter in Europe. But [in] the last week, things had changed and Brian had inserted himself into her life.”
Us has reached out to reps for Brian and Panettiere for comment.
In an interview with NBC News published on Tuesday, August 18, Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, shared her concerns about Brian.
“This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death and that was Brian Hickerson,” she told the outlet. “There is a lot of history in the past that Brian has enabled Hayden many times and this is why her father and I had been concerned for a long time about him.”
Before Vogel broke her silence, a separate source told Us that Pannettiere’s friends were “worried” as she reconnected with her ex.
“That relationship and association had led her down a dark path in the past, so her friends and inner circle were worried for her. There were concerns and her friends really hoped she was doing OK,” the insider said.
Panettiere — who shared daughter Kaya, 11, with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko — first started dating Brian in 2018.
One year later, Brian was arrested following an alleged domestic violence incident involving the former child star. At the time, Brian was charged with felony domestic violence and was ordered to stay away from the Heroes actress. Those charges were eventually dropped, and the pair continued to date.
Brian was arrested again in 2020 for another domestic violence incident involving Panettiere, for which he served 33 days in prison.
In her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, released in May, Panettiere candidly addressed the alleged abuse in her past relationship.
“It was brutal. It was traumatic. It was emotional,” she exclusively told Us when reliving the writing process. “It was important for me to word that experience properly.”
Days before Panettiere died at the age of 36, a judge denied Brian’s motion to have his past felony domestic violence charges reduced to misdemeanors, as well as his request to expunge the convictions.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
