Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actress renowned for her role as Jia in two ‘Godzilla’ films, has passed away. She was 18.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed to TMZ that a car crash killed his daughter early Tuesday morning in Maryland. He told the outlet she died on the way to a hospital.
Joshua later shared the tragic news during a nearly 23-minute livestream. Using American Sign Language, he explained that he had to fly from Texas to claim Kaylee’s body. “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” Joshua wrote in the caption of his Facebook post.
He said officials called to tell him that Kaylee’s heart stopped en route to a hospital.
What Have Authorities Reported?
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office recently issued a statement regarding Kaylee’s death. According to the release, Hottle died in a single-vehicle collision in the 11400 block of Windsor Road in Ijamsville, Maryland, in which she was a passenger.
Deputies and personnel from the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services responded to a call at about 2:52 a.m. Tuesday. A preliminary investigation found that a 19-year-old Frederick man drove a 1995 Honda Accord off the right side of the two-lane roadway and struck a culvert.
The release stated that two passengers were in the vehicle with the driver at the time of the collision–one being Kaylee. The actress was transported from the scene to an area trauma center, where she was later pronounced deceased.
The driver was transported to a local hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. Meanwhile, the other passenger declined medical treatment at the scene.
Authorities said excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision.
The crash is currently under investigation by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit. Authorities ask anyone with information about the accident to contact Dfc. Rose at 301-600-1046.
Who Was Kaylee Hottle?
Kaylee, who was deaf, came from a multi-generational deaf family. Her father is also deaf. According to The Houston Chronicle, Joshua’s family has been part of the deaf community for four generations.
The late actress was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 1, 2007. Entertainment Weekly reported that Kaylee got her onscreen start through an appearance in a 2017 ad for the ASL translation app Convo.
In 2021, she starred alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González and Rebecca Hall in Godzilla vs. Kong. She played Jia, an orphan who forms a bond with King Kong through sign language. The character is the adoptive daughter of Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Hall, who takes her in after meeting her on Skull Island.
Hall, Henry, and Kaylee reprised their roles in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
