Brian Hickerson’s Criminal History Stretched Back Years Before He Met Hayden Panettiere

Court records paint a picture of violence stretching back long before Brian Hickerson ever crossed paths with Hayden Panettiere. Now, his own family is breaking its silence on the man at the center of the tragedy.

Brian Hickerson reportedly had a criminal record dating back nearly a decade before he met actress Hayden Panettiere. The pair were first romantically linked in 2018, and what followed was a tumultuous, on-and-off relationship marked by alleged abuse.

Just months before her death, Hayden had opened up about the abuse she said she endured at Brian's hands — allegations he himself has since confirmed. Interest in his background has surged in the weeks since.

Shortly after news of Hayden's death broke, reports surfaced that Brian and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were present when the "Heroes" star was pronounced dead following an apparent overdose.

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Brian's older half-sister, Ashley Hickerson, offered insight into his turbulent history and why she believes the "Ice Princess" star kept returning to him despite the violence that defined their years-long relationship.

"If I can say one thing about Brian, it's that he is the most charismatic person and he draws you in," said Ashley, who shares a father with half-brothers Brian and Zach. "I get why Hayden was with him."

"Brian is just the type of person who can make you laugh no matter what and he can be fun. We all have our demons. Brian was not raised that way. It wasn't until he got into drugs that he went south," she continued.

The troubling pattern, however, began long before his romance with Hayden.

South Carolina records obtained by the Daily Mail show that Brian, then 21, was charged in November 2010 with two counts of third-degree assault and battery by mob, following an incident that had occured nine days earlier in the family's hometown of Greenville.

His father, David Hickerson, 72, and brother Zach, 38, faced identical charges tied to the same incident. The case appears to have left little public record beyond the initial filing, and its ultimate outcome remains unclear.

Ashley confirmed to the Daily Mail that the family remembers the incident. "Some people caused a riot with them in 2010," she said, adding, "That's what my dad told me."

Eight years later, in 2018, additional records surfaced detailing alleged physical altercations between Brian, Zach, and their father. The pattern continued from there.

Brian was arrested multiple times beginning in May 2019 over alleged violence against Hayden, ultimately pleading no contest in 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a partner.

He was sentenced to 45 days in county jail, of which he served 13, along with four years of probation and 52 domestic-violence classes. Hayden later spoke publicly about the abuse and the complicated bond that repeatedly pulled her back toward him.

Brian himself has also owned up to his actions. "I got arrested for abusing her," he told TMZ in an interview this past May, shortly after the release of Hayden's memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning." He added that he wouldn't blame her friends for being angry with him.

Addressing one particularly disturbing episode Panettiere recounted in the memoir, Brian admitted plainly, "I did it. I did it."

Ashley noted that her brother had acknowledged his wrongdoing in the past and had made efforts to change. "He is the type of person — he did seek treatment and he was getting help," she said. "He did own up to his [expletive]."