We have tried to follow this tragic death since it occurred on August 17. It has not been easy and the criminal investigation continues in South Carolina. We write about something that has not been discussed because lawyers and families see if frequently in the context of separation and divorce.
Ms. Panettiere died in the home of her one time boyfriend Brian Hickerson. That relationship dates to 2018, about the time the actress ended her relationship with Wladimer Klitschko. The Hickerson relationship went downhill fast in the sense that he was arrested for assaulting her in 2019. Those charges were dropped, but there was a second and third set of charges in 2020 that culminated in conviction in 2021 for two felony assaults. He was jailed for 45 days. Neighbors are reporting other domestic incidents at Panettiere’s West Hollywood home in 2023 and 2024, a time when almost all assault perpetrators are under “no contact” orders in the case of former victims.
Hayden Panettiere’s neighbor recalls seeing her ‘battered’ with ‘bruises’ on two occasions
Friends and family seem to have thought that L’affaire Hickerson ended with the criminal case. History has proven that wrong. In May of this year, Ms. Panettiere published an autobiography that included her troubled relationship with Mr. Hickerson. He was asked to comment to the press and seems to have acknowledged that he had inflicted physical harm. But it also seems he wanted his felony conviction expunged. That typically involves contact between the district attorney and the victim.
That matter was heard in a California courtroom on August 13, days before her death. The judge denied the expungement request; Mr. Hickerson would remain a convicted felon. We have not seen what position, if any, Ms. Panettiere took on his request.
From our reading neither Ms. Panettiere nor Mr. Hickerson was present when the expungement request was presented. Curiously, both assailant and victim were staying together in the home of Mr. Hickerson’s brother in Greenville SC, 2,000 miles away at that moment. It was four days later that Mr. Hickerson’s brother telephoned to report her unresponsive to Narcan.
Family lawyers see drug and alcohol addiction more and more in their daily practice. Recently, we have seen the emergence of internet gambling as another rampant form of addiction. But, wedged in that matrix as well is what I will call “personal addiction.” The one party has been harmed by the other. The relationship is toxic. Yet, the addict can’t seem to move on to search for a more productive or less threatening relationship. Lawyers and parents of these “addicts” (an admittedly harsh term) see it clearly. The client/child keeps circling back, staying in touch with and consulting the spouse or significant other who is manipulating the victim or inflicting clear harm. The parents of these victims are sometimes too ardent in their disparagement of the relationship. Lawyers rarely are close enough to clients to effectively communicate concerns about things like co-dependence or control.
The facts in this case are still unraveling. But it would not be surprising to learn that Mr. Hickerson had great expectations that the prominent actress he once harmed would engineer or at least not oppose expungement of his record. When that mission failed, he may have grown angry and let her know his disappointment. That rejection may have pushed his former intimate partner over the abyss.
Put more succinctly. Your former boyfriend who was convicted and jailed for assaulting you is seeking to expunge his conduct. You just published a book describing the relationship, the toxicity and the harm inflicted by him. Of all the places in the world you would not want to be when he learns his plea is denied, no one is greater than in the same dwelling with him. And when he got the call or text saying his past would not be erased, what reaction did you expect? “Oh well, may next year?”
One could wish the American Psychological Association would issue gift cards. A family member watching this anguish play out could put $1,000 toward sessions between the afflicted family member and someone who could help sort out if, how and why a relationship is toxic. But personal addiction is as challenging as any other. The addict can’t see the problem or minimizes its impact on her own psychological well-being.
As more friends, family and professional colleagues weigh in on the death of this 36 year old woman, it is clear that her problems throughout life were complex. They clearly involved substance abuse and that appears to have been the cause of her death. But the world is full of highly toxic relationships and some of those relationships have addictive aspects.