Authorities have released the official cause of death for actress Kaylee Hottle, best known for her role in the “Godzilla vs. Kong” film franchise, following a fatal crash in Maryland earlier this week.
Multiple outlets report that the Maryland medical examiner determined the 18-year-old died from multiple blunt force injuries and classified her death as accidental.
According to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Hottle was riding as a passenger in a 1995 Honda Accord that crashed early Tuesday morning in Ijamsville. The vehicle, driven by a 19-year-old man, veered off the right side of a two-lane road and struck a culvert. Hottle was rushed to a trauma center, where she later died from her injuries.
The driver was hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, while a third passenger declined medical treatment at the scene. Investigators believe excessive speed played a role in the crash, though the case remains open.
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Hottle, who was deaf, played Jia, a young resident of Skull Island who communicates with King Kong through sign language, in the 2021 film “Godzilla vs. Kong” and returned to the role in the 2024 sequel “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
At the time of her death, Hottle was a senior at the Texas School for the Deaf, which announced her passing in an Instagram post asking the community to keep her loved ones in their thoughts during the loss.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, shared the news himself in a Facebook livestream delivered in American Sign Language, titled “I am taking a flight that I would never like to take,” explaining that he was traveling from Texas to bring his daughter’s body home.
Hottle, an Atlanta native, came from a multigenerational deaf family and got her start in the entertainment industry through commercial work before landing her breakout film role.
