Kaylee Hottle’s mom shares heartbreaking tribute after daughter, 18, dies in fatal car crash

Kaylee Hottle’s mom shared a devastating tribute after the deaf actress’ shocking death at 18. Ketsi Hottle called it a “privilege to be” the 18-year-old’s mom in the caption of a tearful Instagram video Tuesday. In the social media upload, which spanned nearly four minutes, Ketsi tearfully communicated to her followers in ASL. SyncwithASL/Facebook SyncwithASL/Facebook She shared the message to her feed with a selfie at the beach with Kaylee. The teen was all smiles in a striped tank and a pair of glasses in the sunny snap, while her mom shielded her eyes and grinned. The teenager, best known for playing Jia in “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire,” lost her life Tuesday in a 3 a.m. car crash in Maryland. A GoFundMe that was created to “provide comforting family meals and cover unexpected expenses such as funeral services and other urgent needs” has surpassed its $20,000 goal as of Wednesday morning. SyncwithASL/Facebook syncwithasl/Instagram Want more celebrity and pop culture news? Start your day with Page Six Daily. Thanks for signing up! Kaylee’s dad, Joshua Hottle, broke the news of the teenager’s passing in both a Facebook video and a TMZ interview on Tuesday. “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” he captioned his tribute, explaining his travels to Maryland from Texas to claim Kaylee’s body. He and Ketsi welcomed their daughter in Atlanta, Georgia, and Kaylee was raised in Austin, Texas, where she attended Texas School for the Deaf. She started acting at 9 and, in addition to her part in the “Godzilla” franchise, had a “Magnum P.I.” role as a character named Joon. AP Photo/Richard Shotwell Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP Kaylee believed it was “important having deaf actors plays deaf characters,” telling Junkee so in 2021. “Deaf people are aware of their own language and they’re more familiar with the culture,” she explained at the time. Kaylee was in Maryland on Tuesday visiting, according to emergency dispatch audio obtained by Page Six. Facebook / Syncwithasl GoFundMe She was one of two passengers in a 1995 Honda Accord that “swerved off the road and hit a ditch,” with “excessive speed … believed to be a contributing factor in the collision.” The 19-year-old driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the other passenger denied medical assistance at the scene. The crash remains under investigation by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit. Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space. In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil. Your post will/might be rejected if it contains: Spam Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice: Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk So, how can you be a power user? Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across. 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions! Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules. Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!