Hayden Panettiere Death

Hayden Panettiere spoke lovingly about her daughter in one of her final interviews ... hoping her child would someday understand their many years apart.

The actress opened up to parenting magazine Momé in July -- just weeks before her death -- recalling the traumatic birth of her now-11-year-old daughter, Kaya, and the painful custody decision that followed.

Hayden said she nearly died when she gave birth to Kaya in December 2014 ... she needed seven blood transfusions and three hours of surgery.

Hayden Panettiere's on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson told us she was the textbook "Sunday girl" when we last talked to him ... and three months later she was found dead on a Sunday in an apartment linked to him.

Brian sat down with TMZ's Charlie Neff back in May -- Hayden had a new memoir out at the time -- and it's interesting to look back at the conversation in the wake of Hayden's sudden death.

Hayden and Brian started dating in 2018, and he held their relationship in high regard ... telling us Hayden "is the sweetest thing in the world."

Brian put it like this ... "It's not about who you spend Saturday night with, it's about who you spend all Sunday with, and Hayden Panettiere is a Sunday girl."

Hayden Panettiere's final Instagram post was a 15-year-old memory ... and the man beside her in the throwback snap tells TMZ he was surprised to see it resurface.

Director and photographer Randall Slavin is the man in the photo, and he tells TMZ ... the black-and-white pic was not recent -- it was taken about 15 years ago at a party inside a friend's home.

He says he recently stumbled across the image on an old hard drive and texted it to Hayden ... but had no idea she planned to share it publicly and was surprised when it was posted on her page on July 27.

Amid Hayden Panettiere's suspected drug overdose death, the fire department and coroner's office raced to the scene -- and TMZ obtained photos of the emergency response.

In one photo, you can see a fire truck parked and multiple ambulances outside the Greenville, South Carolina residence where Hayden took her last breaths.

In another pic, you can see the Greenville County coroner's truck stopped in front of the same building.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ ... Hayden's body was found Sunday inside an apartment by a friend, who then called 911 to report that the actress was unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.

Hayden Panettiere was looking forward to a fresh start just three months before her death ... saying she felt she had "a lot more life to live."

Hayden made the heartbreaking comment on Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" podcast in May ... telling him she felt like she had finally shaken off the darkness and negativity that followed her for years.

Asked what she would call her next chapter after releasing her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," Hayden said she wasn't ready to name it ... but felt one door had closed and another had opened.

Hayden Panettiere's death sent shockwaves through Hollywood ... and several of her former co-stars are sharing their reactions ... and it's emotional.

Friends and fans flooded social media with messages, including several actors from the 'Scream' franchise -- Hayden's a fan favorite in the slasher flicks.

As we told you ... Hayden was found dead inside a South Carolina residence on Sunday ... and an emergency call was made for an "unresponsive female" in "cardiac arrest." Police say there were no initial signs of foul play and the circumstances surrounding Hayden's death did not appear to be suspicious.