Hayden Panettiere died from taking a pill laced with fentanyl, according to reports.
The US actor, best known for her role as a teenage cheerleader in the hit TV series Heroes, died unexpectedly in August, aged 36.
She is thought to have suffered an overdose after taking an oxycodone pill investigators believe was laced with fentanyl, according to TMZ. Panettiere’s official cause of death is pending toxicology results.
Medical responders found the actor unresponsive at an apartment in the Judson Mill Lofts complex in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16, days before she was due to celebrate her 37th birthday.
Despite efforts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at 2.32pm – around 40 minutes after authorities received a 911 call reporting a cardiac arrest.
An incident report filed by the Greenville City Police Department said Panettiere’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was inside the apartment when she died, with his brother, Zack Hickerson.
The report said Brian Hickerson showed police a “bag of medication” that Panettiere was taking when she died.
A preliminary autopsy showed no signs of physical trauma or foul play, and no arrests have been made in connection with Panettiere’s death.
Oxycodone is a strong opioid medication usually handed out via prescription to treat severe pain when other treatments do not work.
Friends of Panettiere have suggested she suffered from severe back pain in the months leading up to her death, and was pictured using crutches at Los Angeles International Airport in March.
She had previously made domestic violence allegations against Brian Hickerson, writing in a memoir published in May that he beat her up so badly one night that she did not leave the house for weeks.
Los Angeles County criminal court records show Brian Hickerson was arrested in May 2019 after an allegation of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. Panettiere requested a restraining order against him in July 2020, but the pair appear to have later rekindled.
The actress was previously married to Wladimir Klitschko, a Ukrainian former heavyweight boxing champion, with whom she shared a daughter, Kaya, 11.
Klitschko, the brother of Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv, led tributes to Panettiere following her death, saying that his family was “going through a time of profound shock and grief”.
“The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon,” he said. “She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives.”