Hayden Panettiere’s Cause of Death Confirmed

Hayden Panettiere’s cause of death was a toxic combination of drugs, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement. The actress died from a mix of the opioid fentanyl with prescription drugs. These included alprazolam, known by its brand name, Xanax; the muscle relaxant methocarbamol; and the antipsychotic quetiapine, used to treat schizophrenia and mood disorders. The coroner’s office confirmed that it’d ruled the death an accident and said there was no sign of physical trauma or foul play.

Panettiere died on August 16 at just 36 years old. The actress was best known for starring in the TV shows Heroes and Nashville and for movies including Ice Princess. As an adult, she was open about her struggles with addiction, writing about it in her 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. When she died, she was in an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, with her abusive on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother. The police report stated that Hickerson showed police officers a bag with medication he claimed Panettiere was taking. The DEA did join the investigation Panettiere’s death; they have not made any statements about their involvement yet.