The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office has shared new details of the car crash that led to the death of Godzilla vs. Kong star Kaylee Hottle at age 19. On Tuesday, July 21st, Kaylee’s father, Joshua Hottle, shared the tragic news in a Facebook live stream, using American Sign Language (ASL) to reveal his daughter had been involved in a fatal accident earlier that morning. “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” he wrote in the caption, explaining he will travel from Texas to Maryland where the crash took place to collect Kaylee’s body. Kaylee was best known for playing Jia Andrews, a deaf orphan who forms a close bond with Kong, in the 2021 movie Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel The New Empire. Credit: Warner Bros. Further details about what happened have since emerged through a press release from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, which said deputies and emergency crews responded to a single-vehicle crash at around 2.52am that morning. The collision unfolded in the 11400 block of Windsor Road in Ijamsville, Maryland, where Kaylee had been visiting a friend. Officials said Kaylee was a passenger in a 1995 Honda Accord that swerved off the right side of the two-lane roadway before hitting a culvert. As per the statement, “Excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision.” She was taken to a nearby trauma centre, where she later died from her injuries. A 19-year-old male driver suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, while a second passenger declined medical treatment at the scene. For now, the crash remains under investigation by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit. Additionally, dispatch audio obtained by Page Six reveals officers seeking an ASL interpreter or an app to communicate with Kaylee, who is deaf. It also suggests that the actress was unconscious at the time emergency services arrived on the scene. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ketsi Hottle (@syncwithasl) Kaylee, a senior at Austin’s Texas School for the Deaf, had reportedly been visiting Ijamsville to see a friend, who told officers that they didn’t have contact information for her family. Her father revealed that he was initially contacted to be notified that Kaylee had been in an accident. Shortly after, he was informed that her heart had stopped on the way to the hospital. Kaylee’s mother, Ketsi Hottle, also shared her own post in ASL, where she said “I still feel Kaylee is with us” and that it was a “privilege” to be her mum. A GoFundMe has been set up on behalf of the Hottle family to help cover unexpected expenses such as funeral services and other urgent needs that have arisen. The page, which has surpassed its $20,000 goal, reads, “In moments like these, even small gestures of support can make a world of difference as Kaylee’s family navigates the days ahead. “Your kindness will help ease some of the burdens they are facing and allow them to focus on honoring Kaylee’s memory and supporting one another.” Featured image credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock/GoFundMe Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
