Deaf Actress Kaylee Hottle, 18, Dies in Maryland Car Crash

Kaylee Hottle, an 18-year-old deaf actress best known for playing Jia in the Godzilla film franchise, died in a single-vehicle car crash in Frederick County, Maryland, on July 21, 2026. The crash occurred at approximately 2:52 a.m. on Windsor Road in Ijamsville when a 1995 Honda Accord driven by a 19-year-old Frederick resident veered off the roadway and struck a culvert. Authorities determined that excessive speed was a contributing factor. Hottle was transported to a nearby trauma center but was pronounced deceased. The driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and a second passenger declined medical treatment.

Hottle gained international recognition for her role as Jia, a deaf orphan who communicates with King Kong through sign language, in 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" and reprised the role in 2024's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." Her performance in the sequel earned her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Younger Performer in a Film. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Hottle came from a multi-generational deaf family and was a senior at Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas at the time of her death.

Before her breakthrough in film, Hottle began acting at age 9 with commercials, including a PSA for Glide, a live video messaging app used by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. She also appeared in an episode of the "Magnum P.I." reboot series. Her film co-stars, including Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall, learned American Sign Language to communicate with her on set. Hottle was an advocate for deaf representation in the entertainment industry, stating in interviews that she wanted to inspire other deaf people to pursue acting and demonstrating that deafness need not be a barrier to achievement in Hollywood.