The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Kaylee Hottle, 18, died from blunt force trauma following a vehicle collision. Early Tuesday morning in Frederick, Maryland, the Honda Accord in which she was a passenger veered off the road at high speed and crashed into a ditch around 3 am. The 19-year-old driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and another passenger declined treatment. Hottle was transported to a trauma centre where she was pronounced dead. The Frederick County Sheriff's Office continues investigating the cause of the crash.

Hottle gained prominence for her performances as Jia, a deaf orphan adopted into a family developing a connection with Kong, across two major action films. A high school senior at Texas School for the Deaf and daughter of deaf parents, she was fluent in American Sign Language. She received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Performance by a Younger Actor and had previously appeared on television in Magnum P.I., with additional film roles in development.