SerpApi.Org
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.
She shared the message to her feed with a selfie at the beach with Kaylee.
FOR MORE CELEBRITY NEWS, GET PAGE SIX DAILY DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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.
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.
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.
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.
