'Godzilla x Kong' Actress Kaylee Hottle, 18, Dies After Maryland Crash

Authorities asked anyone with information or who witnessed the crash to contact Deputy First Class Rose at 301-600-1046.

Kelly McBride Ni

Published: 7/21/2026, 3:07:58 PM EDT

'Godzilla x Kong' Actress Kaylee Hottle, 18, Dies After Maryland Crash — Actress Kaylee Hottle attends the world premiere of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kaylee Hottle, the young actress best known for her role as Jia in "Godzilla vs. Kong" and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," died Tuesday following a single-vehicle crash in Frederick County, Maryland. Investigators with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said excessive speed is believed to have contributed to the crash, according to a news release issued July 21.

Deputies and personnel from Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services responded around 2:52 a.m. Tuesday to the 11400 block of Windsor Road in Ijamsville for reports of a fatal crash.

Investigators said a 1995 Honda Accord, driven by a 19-year-old Frederick man, veered off the right side of the two-lane road and struck a culvert, according to the sheriff's office.

Hottle, 18, of Kyle, Texas, was one of two passengers in the car. She was taken to a trauma center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the sheriff's office. The driver was hospitalized with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. The second passenger declined medical treatment at the scene.

Hottle's father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death Tuesday in a video posted to Facebook using American Sign Language. In the caption, he wrote, "I am taking a flight that I never would like to take."

The Texas School for the Deaf, where Hottle was a senior, also confirmed her death in a statement posted to Facebook.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that one of our TSD seniors, Kaylee Hottle, tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland," the school said in a Facebook statement.

The school added that it had very limited information and asked the public to respect the family's privacy and avoid speculation about the crash.

Born in Atlanta on May 1, 2007, Hottle came from a multigenerational Deaf family. According to her IMDb biography, four generations of her father's family are Deaf, and American Sign Language was her first language. Before her film career, she appeared in commercials and advocacy videos supporting accessibility and Deaf representation.

Hottle made her feature film debut as Jia in 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" after filmmakers saw her in a commercial for the Convo Relay app.

She reprised the role in 2024's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" and also appeared in an episode of "Magnum P.I." She earned a 2024 Saturn Award nomination for Best Younger Performer in a Film for her work in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."

During promotion for Godzilla vs. Kong, co-star Alexander Skarsgård praised Hottle's performance, telling Junkee in 2021, "It's her first movie. It's fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera." He said other than the giant lizard and grizzled gorilla, Hottle was the person who “steals the movie."

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office Traffic Unit is investigating. Authorities asked anyone with information or who witnessed the crash to contact Deputy First Class Rose at 301-600-1046.