Hayden Panettiere's Neighbor Claims Actress Was 'Terrified' of 'Predator' Boyfriend Brian Hickerson Before Tragic Death

Hayden Panettiere is said to have been "terrified' of her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, RadarOnline.com can reveal, before the actress was found unresponsive inside a South Carolina apartment.

Hickerson and his brother, Zach, were with the Heroes star when she suffered a suspected overdose, according to police.

In an interview with Inside Edition, Mia Terrazzas, a neighbor of Panettiere, pulled back the veil on the TV star's relationship with her troubled boyfriend.

According to Terrazzas, Panettiere was "always a bright light when she was by herself. When she was with Brian, she was so subdued and almost seemed like a different person." The neighbor claimed she called 911 at least a half dozen times to report disturbances in Panettiere's West Hollywood apartment.

"This predator was in our community," she explained. "He never stopped living at her place. There were times he ripped apart her bathroom, where he just took a sledgehammer at 5 in the morning."

Terrazzas also revealed a flier that was posted by the Homeowners Association (HOA) on the property featuring an image of Hickerson, warning residents to call 911 immediately if he was seen. However, the warning was taken down.

According to Terrazzas, she tried to put them up again, but the HOA removed them a second time.

Hickerson was sentenced to 45 days behind bars on two felony counts of injuring the Nashville star in 2021. As part of his plea deal, he was ordered to attend 52 domestic violence classes and pay a $500 fee following his release. At the time, Hickerson was reportedly removed from her home, but that was not the end of their relationship.

Terrazzas claimed she suspected there was domestic violence in the relationship: "I saw her leave on a gurney. Bryan was right next to her, and I asked her if she was okay. And it looked to me she had suffered some sort of trauma... looked to be battering."

"It was clear she was terrified," the neighbor added. An emotional Terrazzas then added that Panettiere had "so much life to live."

According to the Hollywood star's pals, Hickerson was to blame for her struggles, as a source previously claimed the relationship had "been bad news from the start." The pair were said to have gone out "drinking" and gotten "sloppy."

"He's been enabling her all along," the insider said at the time, who also claimed, "Brian's no good for her, and she's beginning to see that. She's got to move on and focus on getting sober. Otherwise, something really bad could happen."

Panettiere had taken a flight out of Los Angeles to Greenville, South Carolina, on August 15 with Hickerson, just one day before her death. The 911 call on the day of her passing came at 1:50 p.m. local time, when a dispatcher alerted responding units to an "unresponsive female" in "cardiac arrest."

EMS were later heard on the radio working on the patient, who they believed had suffered an "overdose," and CPR was "in progress." Panettiere was pronounced dead inside the apartment at 2:32 p.m local time.

Hickerson's brother, Zach, had reportedly found her unresponsive in an armchair before the siblings reached out for help. While Zach was described as being "very emotional" as paramedics were performing CPR on Panettiere, a first responder noted that Brian "did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased." She was 36 years old.

According to the police report, Brian showed police a "bag of medication" that his girlfriend is said to have been taking at the time of her death, which she had kept inside the apartment complex. A vial of Narcan was also found on the mattress inside the apartment. The nasal spray is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose or similar drugs.

Before her tragic passing, Panettiere once wrote that a doctor told her she would be "dead within five years" if she did not stop drinking.

She turned to treatment in 2020, entering an eight-month stay and battling withdrawal symptoms.