Hayden Panettiere Died After Taking Just One Pill Believed to Be Laced with Fentanyl: Report [WATCH]

Hayden Panettiere reportedly died after taking a single pill believed to have been oxycodone laced with fentanyl, according to law enforcement sources connected to the case.

Authorities are now reportedly focusing on the person suspected of supplying the drug.

The actress appears to have met with her longtime drug dealer in Los Angeles before traveling to South Carolina, multiple sources told TMZ.

Panettiere died there from a suspected overdose on Aug. 16, shortly before her 37th birthday.

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Sources said the mother appears to have taken only one pill on the day of her death.

The pill proved fatal because it was allegedly laced with fentanyl, an opioid described in the report as 50 times stronger than heroin.

Although her death is being investigated as a suspected overdose, authorities have not released an exact cause of death.

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Toxicology results could take up to 12 weeks to complete, officials warned.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is involved in the investigation, according to TMZ.

Officials in both Los Angeles and South Carolina are reportedly examining the circumstances surrounding the suspected overdose and the possible source of the pill.

Brian Hickerson, Panettiere’s abusive former partner, was reportedly with her during the flight and at the South Carolina apartment where she died.

Reports say Hickerson has already met with Drug Enforcement Administration officials.

It remains unclear what Hickerson told investigators during that meeting. He previously informed police that Panettiere had a “bag of medication” with her at the time.

Greenville City Police records reportedly listed nine different types of drugs Panettiere had been taking.

However, the names of those medications were redacted, leaving their identities undisclosed.

Panettiere was best known for her television roles in “Heroes” and “Nashville.”

She had also spoken openly about addiction in her memoir, “This is Me: A Reckoning,” which was published three months before her death.

In the memoir and earlier interviews, the actress candidly discussed her struggles with alcohol, opioid addiction, and postpartum depression.

She said her exposure to pills began when she was just 15 and preparing for red carpet appearances.

Panettiere recalled that someone on her team gave her what she called “happy pills” before those events.

“They were to make me peppy during interviews,” she told People magazine in 2022.

“I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”

Her struggles later intensified after she appeared on “Heroes” as an actress at age 16.

“But things kept getting out of control [off set],” Panettiere admitted while describing that period of her life.

“And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

Panettiere also wrote about turning to alcohol while experiencing postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Kaya, in 2014.

She shared Kaya with former heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Her alcohol use eventually contributed to serious health problems, according to her account.

The actress developed jaundice, a condition that causes the skin and whites of the eyes to turn yellow because of poor liver function.

“Doctors told me my liver was going to give out,” Panettiere said.

She also wrote, “A doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years.”

Authorities have yet to announce Panettiere’s official cause of death while the toxicology testing remains pending.

At the same time, investigators are reportedly concentrating on a potential drug supplier as they examine how she obtained the pill believed to have contained fentanyl.

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