Panettiere's Boyfriend Arrested Twice in 2025, Prosecutors Say

Hickerson is arrested multiple times for physically abusing Panettiere, The Daily Beast reported. After the second arrest for abusing her in 2020, she is granted a five-year restraining order.

Hickerson pleads no contest to two felony counts of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant. He is sentenced to 45 days in county jail, four years of formal probation and mandatory classes.

The couple reconnects. Panettiere tells PEOPLE: "He's gone to treatment and done his time. And I'm trying to live in a place of forgiveness."

Hickerson is arrested in Los Angeles on two separate occasions, according to prosecutors as reported by PEOPLE and TMZ. Prosecutors decline to file after the first arrest, citing insufficient evidence. After the second, he is charged with one misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance, enters a diversion program, completes 10 Narcotics Anonymous sessions and has the case dismissed by a judge.

Hickerson gives an interview to TMZ that prosecutors later use to argue he was not sober.

Hickerson petitions the court to expunge his domestic violence convictions, saying he has met his obligations under the law. Prosecutors oppose the motion.

At a hearing neither Hickerson nor his attorney attends, prosecutors cite his alleged drug use and the two 2025 arrests. The judge denies the expungement.

Panettiere and Hickerson travel from Los Angeles to South Carolina.

Hickerson's brother Zach returns to the Airbnb from church. The two men find Panettiere unconscious. Brian Hickerson administers Narcan, the nasal spray used to reverse an opioid overdose, while Zach calls 911. Fire and EMS crews are unable to revive her.