Hayden Panettiere’s polarizing boyfriend Brian Hickerson is talking with narcotics agents searching for the a drug dealer who may have contributed to the 36-year-old star’s death last month.
Hickerson was in the South Carolina apartment where the “Heroes” actor died on Aug. 18. He’s since communicated with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), according to TMZ. Law enforcement is said to be “zeroing in on a potential drug dealer.”
The Greenville Coroner’s Office said “EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful” before Panettiere was pronounced dead. Narcan, which is used to treat opioid overdoses, was reportedly found in the property where she died.
Panettiere struggled with addiction, but claimed to have recovered in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which was released in May
A toxicology report is being conducted to determine her cause of death.
Friends and family members came forward after her death to express their concerns over her on-again, off-again relationship with Hickerson, who’d pleaded no contest to two domestic violence offenses against Panettiere in the past.
“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,” her estranged mother told NBC News.
A South Carolina defense attorney representing Hickerson emphasized last month that it’s “important” for the public to allow investigators to do their jobs before making assumptions.
He hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing in connection with her death.