The official cause of death has been determined for Kaylee Hottle. The Godzilla star died of multiple blunt force injuries in a car crash Tuesday morning in Frederick, MD, the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to Deadline. The manner of death is listed as accidental. An initial autopsy was completed Wednesday morning.
The Frederick County sheriff’s department said Hottle was a passenger in a Honda Accord that veered off the road at high speed early Tuesday morning, July 21, and crashed into a ditch at around 3 am. The driver, described as a 19-year-old Maryland man, was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. Another passenger declined medical treatment at the scene. Hottle was taken to an area trauma center where she was pronounced dead.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit.
Hottle’s death was announced by her father Joshua Hottle in a Facebook livestream using American Sign Language (he is deaf, as was his daughter). Hottle’s passing was confirmed on social media by Texas School for the Deaf, where she was a high school senior.
The young actor was known for her role of Jia in the films Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The character is a deaf orphan adopted by Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) who develops a kinship with Kong. Hottle received praise for her performances, and was nominated for a 2025 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for her work. The award was won by Jenna Ortega for the film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Hottle was discovered by Kong casting agents after she appeared in a commercial for a video relay service designed for deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired users. Hottle was fluent in American Sign Language.
Hottle also appeared on television in a 2021 episode of Magnum P.I., and according to her IMDb page, she was set to appear in the feature thriller What Doesn’t Kill Us, currently in pre-production.
The Sun was first to report Hottle’s cause of death.
Greg Evans contributed to this report.
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