Hayden Panettiere BF Brian Was There When She Died ... Emotional When She Was Declared Dead

Published August 18, 2026 8:41 AM PDT

Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother were at the scene when the actress was found dead Sunday, according to police.

A report cited by NBC News says Brian and Zach Hickerson were at the scene inside the apartment complex when she went into cardiac arrest.

Zach was reportedly “very emotional” while emergency medical services professionals were “working on Hayden.”

As for Brian ... the report, as cited by NBC, says he didn't become visibly emotional until she was declared dead at the scene.

TMZ broke the story ... Hayden and Brian kept their rekindled romance to themselves in order to protect her career.

A source close to Brian tells TMZ ... the couple didn't break up as many times as the public was led to believe -- and were actually together while she was promoting her memoir "This Is Me: A Reckoning" in the months before her death.

Our source says Hayden was advised by her team to distance herself from Brian, at least publicly, even though they were still romantic in private.

As you know ... Hayden died Sunday afternoon at an Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina ... and our sources say Brian was in town as well. Unclear what they were doing in Greenville, but we're told they visit the area often.

First responders were called to a residence Sunday afternoon around 1:50 PM to help a woman who was in cardiac arrest. They attempted life-saving measures, but ultimately pronounced Hayden dead at 2:32 PM.