Anna Nicole Smith’s Ex, Mark Hatten, Shot and Killed in South Carolina

It has been reported that Anna Nicole Smith‘s ex, Mark Hatten, was shot and killed in South Carolina over the weekend. According to TMZ, Hatten died on Sunday, though the circumstances surrounding his death appear to be unclear. He appears to have been involved in an altercation with another man, which eventually turned fatal.

Hatten had a very complicated history with Smith, as she previously testified in court that they began dating in 2000, with Hatten one night confronting her while brandishing a knife. Smith ended things with Hatten at this point, but claimed that he went on to stalk and threaten her for almost two years after their relationship ended. In 2002, Hatten is said to have shown up at Smith’s home unannounced. When her neighbor asked him to leave, Hatten allegedly assaulted him. He was eventually sentenced to 7 years behind bars for stalking Smith and assaulting the neighbor.

Tragically, Smith passed away in 2007, suffering a fatal, accidental dug overdose. Broward County Medical Examiner and forensic pathologist Joshua Perper stated that Smith’s death was due to “combined drug intoxication” with chloral hydrate — a sleeping medication — as the “major component.” This came one year after the death of her oldest child, Daniel, who died in Smith’s hospital room three days after she gave birth to her youngest, Dannielynn. An autopsy discovered that Daniel died from a combination of drugs, including antidepressants and methadone.

After this, there was a highly publicized paternity case over the baby, with Larry Birkhead — Smith’s former romantic partner — eventually being found to be Dannielynn’s biological father. The dad and daughter pair currently reside near his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Earlier this year, Birkhead spoke to Us Weekly about parenting 13-year-old Dannielynn, joking that she has one main thing in common with her mother: “The ability to spend money!” Birkhead added, “That’s probably there. That’s probably the biggest. But beyond that, you know, she’s got some personality traits of her mom’s, and she’s funny, but I think she’s a good mix of the two of us.”

Birkhead went on to share that, to this day, fans of Smith will approach Dannielynn in public to gush over how much they loved her mother. “So many people come up to her and say, you know, ‘I was a big fan of your mom’s,’ and, ‘I loved your mom,’ or, ‘She inspired me to lose weight or be a model or just being a single parent.’ And so, you know, a lot of people helped me in that regard. … She’s just a really great kid,” he said.