Hayden Panettiere died as the result of an accidental overdose, police in South Carolina has said.
The Scream star was found dead at her home in Greenville, South Carolina in August at the age of 36, with a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the actor’s death opening shortly afterwards.
On Wednesday, a Greenville Police Department rep said the force had “concluded its investigation”, concluding that Hayden’s death was accidental.
“Based on the Medical Examiner’s determination and the findings of the investigation, Hayden Panettiere’s death has been ruled accidental,” they said in a statement, per BBC News.
Last month, the coroner’s office in Greenville County said that Hayden had died due to the toxic effects of fentanyl and several other drugs, including 4-ANPP, Alprazolam (commonly known as Xanax), Methocarbamol and Quetiapine.
Throughout her time in the spotlight, Hayden spoke candidly about her issues with addiction and substance abuse.
“With the opiates and alcohol I was doing anything to make me feel happy for a moment. Then I’d feel worse than I did before. I was in a cycle of self-destruction,” she told People magazine in 2022, disclosing that her issues with addiction ultimately led to the breakdown of her relationship with fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, the father of her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
Hayden was most well-known for her roles in the TV series Nashville and Heroes, as well as her work in two of the Scream films.
For her performance as Juliette Barnes in Nashville, she was twice nominated for a Golden Globe.
Earlier this year, she opened up about her life in the spotlight – having begun her professional acting career as a child performer – in her candid memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
After the news broke in August that she had died, those who knew and worked with Hayden began sharing stories, tributes and memories, with the Heroes cast staging a reunion in their late co-star’s honour over the summer.
