Earlier this month, we reported on the latest shocking development in the troubled personal life of actress Hayden Panettiere.

On Valentine's Day, Hayden's boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was once again arrested on domestic assault charges.

This was the third time that Hickerson was arrested for assaulting Hayden over the course of their 18-month relationship, and the fourth time that he arrested for an act of violence in that same time period.

(Hickerson allegedly assaulted his own father last year in an incident that was witnessed by Panettiere.)

According to a police report from his latest arrest, Hickerson struck Hayden “with a closed fist on the right side of her face,” leaving her “red and swollen.”

He was taken into custody at 2:30 am and released a few hours later on $5,000 bail.

Much to the chagrin of her worried loved ones, it seems that Hayden has been hesitant to break up with her abusive boyfriend.

She refused to testify against Hickerson during his previous trial, and the judge in his case was left with no choice but to render a not guilty verdict for lack of material witnesses.

Now, however, Pantettiere's family and friends may have reason to be hopeful that she's decided to bring this wildly unhealthy relationship to an end.

According to Radar Online, Hayden tweeted and quickly deleted a number of posts praising Wladimir Klitschko, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child.

“Best father ever,” she captioned a photo of Klitschko and her daughter.

“Before or after he beat you,” one fan tweeted, prompting Hayden to reply:

“Wrong guy. Klitschko’s r legends. That’s my CHAMP!"

This is the closest Hayden has come to publicly acknowldeging that she was assaulted by Hickerson.

The combination of Hayden praising her ex and criticizing Hickerson has no doubt inspired hope that she's finally decided to kick this jerk to the curb.

Klitschko currently has full custody of Hayden's daughter, who lives in Ukraine with her father.

The decision was mutually agreed upon, largely as a result of Panettiere's Drinking problem, which insiders say is a consequence of her troubled relationship with Hickerson.

Then couple's latest reconciliation was allegedly a result of Hickerson's vow to quit drinking.

“He had told Hayden after his last arrest and when they got back together that he was taking a break from drinking, but Brian started drinking again and this is what happened,” a source close to the situationn tells Radar Online.

“He has serious anger issues and when he drinks it brings it out, it magnifies it 1000 percent.”

Here's hoping that reunion turned out to be short-lived.

We'll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.