Hayden Panettiere Death Ruled Accidental, Probe Closed — SkimNews
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- South Carolina police closed the investigation and ruled Panettiere’s death accidental on Wednesday, citing the Medical Examiner’s determination and their investigative findings.
- Greenville County Coroner’s Office ruled one month after Panettiere’s death that she died from the toxic effects of fentanyl and other drugs; the autopsy found no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death.
- Panettiere, 36, was pronounced dead at a Greenville residence on Aug. 16 after police responded to reports of an unresponsive female; the initial investigation indicated no signs of foul play.
- Panettiere said she struggled with postpartum depression after the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, her only child with Wladimir Klitschko, and later disclosed severe postpartum depression, substance abuse and anxiety.
- This Is Me: A Reckoning chronicled Panettiere’s addiction and mental-health struggles; despite those disclosed challenges, she continued acting and reprised Kirby Reed in Scream VI in 2023 after Scream 4 in 2011.
Why it matters: For South Carolina police, the Aug. 16 case now closes after an initial probe indicated no foul play, replacing an open inquiry with an official accidental-death finding for Panettiere. The coroner’s report on fentanyl and other drugs supplies the specific medical cause, and the autopsy found no contributing trauma.
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