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Sleepyheads were stunned back in early April when the "Sleepy Hollow" Season 3 finale killed off Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), who has been the star of the show alongside Tom Mison since the supernatural drama premiered.

On a call with reporters Monday (May 16), FOX chairman and CEO Dana Walden fielded questions about the decision to kill Abbie off and whether that means Season 4 is the final season for "Sleepy Hollow," which returns midseason in 2016-17 on FOX. Walden says it doesn't necessarily mean Season 4 is the last and also that the network initially balked at the idea of killing off Abbie.

"We're not announcing that it's the final season. Frankly we're not sure if it's the final season or not," says Walden. "What we know is Tom Mison's a big star, and the Ichabod Crane character has been so central to the series and the storytelling — he feels like an original, big FOX character."

She adds, "There were a variety of factors that led to the end of the season this year. It was not a decision that we wanted to make initially. We ended up being put in a situation where that's the decision that needed to be made. But we don't feel like it had to be the end of the life of the show."

As for the backlash after Abbie died, Walden says fans are enthusiastic about Mison carrying the show.

"While there was backlash, there was also a tremendous amount of enthusiasm from fans about the show coming back and about Tom having the ability to be the center of the series and discovering new dynamics and new relationships. It's a very original premise, and we felt like it had greater life in it. There was no reason to end it at that point."