Kaylee Hottle, an 18-year-old actress known for her roles in two Godzilla movies, tragically died in a car accident on Tuesday (July 21) in Frederick, Maryland. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Hottle was a passenger in a single-vehicle crash that occurred shortly before 3 a.m. on Windsor Road in Ijamsville, per NBC News.
The accident involved a Honda Accord driven by a 19-year-old man who sustained non-life-threatening injuries. “Excessive speed” is believed to have contributed to the crash, which resulted in the vehicle leaving the roadway and striking a culvert. Hottle, a passenger, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced deceased. Another passenger in the car was not injured.
Hottle, born in Atlanta, Georgia, gained fame for her portrayal of Jia in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Her performances were praised for bringing authentic deaf representation to Hollywood, and she received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for the sequel, Deadline reports.
Hottle was a senior at the Texas School for the Deaf, which expressed its condolences on social media, calling her death a “tremendous loss.” Her father, Joshua Hottle, shared the heartbreaking news in a Facebook video, using American Sign Language to express his grief and his plans to fly to Maryland.
