Kaylee Hottle’s cause of death confirmed after Maryland crash
The Godzilla actor died after a high-speed crash in Frederick, Maryland, officials said, with her death listed as accidental.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Kaylee Hottle, the actor who played Jia in the recent Godzilla and Kong films, died from multiple blunt force injuries after a car crash in Frederick, Maryland, according to the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The office confirmed to Deadline that Hottle’s manner of death was ruled accidental. An initial autopsy was completed Wednesday morning, the outlet reported. The Sun was first to report the cause of death.
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said Hottle was a passenger in a Honda Accord that left the road at high speed early Tuesday, July 21, and went into a ditch at about 3 a.m.
Hottle was taken to an area trauma center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the sheriff’s department. The driver, identified by the department as a 19-year-old Maryland man, was transported to a local hospital with injuries officials said were not believed to be life-threatening. Another passenger refused medical care at the scene.
The sheriff’s office traffic unit is still investigating what caused the crash.
Family and school confirmed her death
Hottle’s father, Joshua Hottle, announced her death in a Facebook livestream using American Sign Language, Deadline reported. He is deaf, as was his daughter.
Texas School for the Deaf, where Hottle was a high school senior, also confirmed her death on social media.
Hottle was best known for playing Jia in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong and 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. In the films, Jia is a deaf orphan adopted by Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, and forms a close bond with Kong.
Her performances drew notice from genre fans and awards voters. Hottle was nominated for a 2025 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, according to Deadline. Jenna Ortega won the category for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
From ASL commercial to the MonsterVerse
Hottle was discovered by casting agents for the Kong franchise after appearing in a commercial for a video relay service made for deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired users, Deadline reported. She was fluent in American Sign Language.
Her screen credits also included a 2021 episode of Magnum P.I.. According to her IMDb page, she was attached to appear in the thriller What Doesn’t Kill Us, which is listed as being in pre-production.
Officials have not announced further findings in the crash investigation.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.