Actress Hayden Panettiere, known for her roles in “Heroes” and “Nashville,” may have taken a fentanyl-laced pill before her death, according to a new report from TMZ.
TMZ reports that law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation believe Panettiere took a pill containing oxycodone that was laced with fentanyl on the day she died.
As Emily’s Hope previously reported, police and emergency medical personnel responded to an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 16 after receiving a report of an unresponsive woman.
Dispatch audio obtained by PEOPLE included references to an apparent overdose and cardiac arrest. Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not confirmed that she suffered an overdose, and her official cause of death remains pending.
According to TMZ, sources connected to the investigation say Panettiere had a longtime drug dealer in Los Angeles who supplied her with several black-market prescription drugs, including oxycodone. Authorities reportedly believe she took an oxycodone pill the morning of her death and suspect it was laced with fentanyl.
TMZ also reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles is investigating Panettiere’s relationship with the alleged drug dealer and working to determine where the pill came from.
An autopsy found no signs of trauma that contributed to Panettiere’s death, according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. Toxicology testing is still pending.
Panettiere had been open about her struggles with addiction and other personal challenges. In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” released in May, she wrote about her experience as a child star, addiction and postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014.
Panettiere wrote that she became addicted to Klonopin and alcohol after her daughter’s birth.
