Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend Brian Hickerson denied felony reduction days before her death
Panettiere and Hickerson began dating in 2018 and had a relationship marked by domestic violence incidents and arrests
Brian Hickerson, Hayden Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, was denied a request to reduce or expunge his felony domestic abuse charges just three days before the actress died.
Hickerson pleaded no contest in April 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend following multiple incidents involving Panettiere between May 2019 and January 2020.
Los Angeles County Judge Olivia Rosales denied Hickerson’s latest petition during a hearing on August 13.
The prosecution had opposed his request to reduce the charges to misdemeanours and expunge his record.
Hickerson had previously sought similar relief in July 2025. His 2021 sentence included 45 days in county jail, four years of formal probation, 52 domestic violence classes and a five-year restraining order.
He ultimately served 33 days after receiving credit for time already spent in custody.
Panettiere and Hickerson began dating in 2018 and had an intermittent relationship marked by multiple domestic violence incidents and arrests.
In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere discussed her experiences with abuse and the difficulty of ending the relationship.
“Getting an abusive person out of your life is like trying to rip a weed out that is so entangled into your life, and every time you pull it out another weed pops back up and you’re like, I thought I killed this,” she told Us Weekly in May.
Panettiere died aged 36 on Sunday.
According to reports, 911 audio referenced an “overdose”, while Narcan was reportedly found at the scene.
Authorities have not confirmed the cause of death.
