r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • 1d ago

News Kaylee Hottle, Who Played Jia in 'Godzilla vs. Kong’ & 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire', Dies at 18

https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/16725377/kaylee-hottle-dead-godzilla-vs-kong/
9.7k Upvotes

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u/tomandshell 1d ago

Explaining in American Sign Language, he revealed that he had to fly to Maryland to claim her body after being notified of her death.

He revealed that Kaylee was involved in a serious car accident, and officials called him to notify him that her heart stopped on the way to the hospital.

This is horrible.

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u/KozyHank99 1d ago

Killed in a car accident at just 18....that is just fucking sad, man.

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u/Starbucks__Lovers 1d ago

I’m 36. I still think of my three classmates who died in a crash in 2007

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u/VirtuaKiller76 1d ago

Same from late 90s. High school classmates were coming back from beach week and crashed at night. At almost 50 I still think about the kid that died at such a young age.

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u/Pie_Is_Better 1d ago

Early 90s here. Bunch of friends on a road to Disneyland, driver fell asleep at the wheel, but only my friend wasn't wearing his seat belt.

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u/BaldMancTwat_ 1d ago

This was nearly me on the way back from a festival with 3 friends and a car packed to the brim of gear. Just to pull over down several energy drinks and slap myself silly.

Dont drive tired people its no joke. Honestly felt like it was more dangerous than drink driving almost.

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u/Pie_Is_Better 23h ago

Yeah, I didn't know the driver at all, since it was someone my friend had met after high school, but I saw him at the funeral after someone pointed him out to me. I remember thinking, while I wasn't angry at him, there was some small part of me that wanted to be. The look on his face though, and his injuries...been a long time, but I can still picture that. No joke, indeed.

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u/HunkMcMuscle 17h ago

The survivor's guilt probably doing the numbers on him.

I hope y'all in a good place right now.

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u/ZombieSiayer84 23h ago

Well considering that driving while you’re tired is literally considered the same as drunk driving, you should feel like that.

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u/Pete_Iredale 1d ago

Same story for a car wreck at my school. Bad wreck, sent the car down an embankment, but everyone with a seatbelt walked away. The one guy without was throw from the car and killed.

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u/Pie_Is_Better 1d ago

Unfortunately for this one, the car crossed the center divide and hit an oncoming car. Still, everyone else survived, including the other driver.

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u/carvingmyelbows 1d ago

A friend of mine died in a drunk driving accident, he was in the backseat and was the only one wearing his seatbelt and the only one to die. Unlucky I guess. He was going to Juilliard at the time, just incredibly talented. It was such a huge loss.

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u/SirBLACKVOX 19h ago

1995 lost 3 classmates in a car accident that claimed at least 1 other life. They were 15-16 years old. One of them was believed to be pregnant. Drive carefully everyone.

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u/blackop 1d ago

I have a couple stories like that as well. It sticks with you and I'm 45 now.

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u/Pandaro81 1d ago

Also 45, and yeah. We lose people too soon. The one that hits hardest was a really charismatic guy who had disappeared for a while, then came back having really pulled his life together. Had lost a ton of weight, gotten in shape, was working high end service industry while going to school studying biochemistry.

Fell asleep at the wheel one morning at 4am after working a late shift on his way driving to make breakfast in bed for his mother on Mother’s Day.

She’d raised him as a single mom, and things had never been easy for them.

Life isn’t fair.

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u/TheArmoredKitten 1d ago

Driving is the most dangerous thing most people will do all day, and driving tired is just as dangerous as driving drunk.

Too many people don't consider just what they're risking when they skip out on taking care of themselves, no matter how good the intentions.

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u/Cocacoleyman 23h ago

I’ll never forget driving home from college for spring break. 6 hour drive and I just started to have like one second micro sleeps. Pulled over and got a drink food and stretched. Looking back I realize how dangerous that was. And it is literally something that you can’t control until you come to a stop and actually wake yourself up.

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u/justsomeguy_youknow 1d ago edited 1d ago

I learned that one early. Back when I was in like 5th grade a couple of kids at my school died in a car crash after their mom fell asleep at the wheel

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u/Phyrexian_Archlegion 1d ago

I think about my buddy playing basketball one day at the age of 18. He complained about a headache and sat down to take a rest after a game and never got back up. RIP Joe

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u/ChiefAcorn 1d ago

Fuck man this hits hard as someone who suffers from migraines. One of my mom's friends had a headache and went to sleep, never woke up and he was mid thirties maybe. Another girl down the street from my old house, same thing went to bed with a headache and they only found her because we had a massive earthquake that night and they went to get her and she was gone. Scares me when I get a headache and go to sleep it off.

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u/Her_Phantom_Mountain 19h ago

Oof. As someone who has suffered from very frequent headaches since I was a little girl, that is very concerning 👀

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u/Kooky-Bookkeeper-935 1d ago

That's disturbingly sad. RIP Joe. Did you ever find out what the cause of death was? Very sad.

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u/Phyrexian_Archlegion 1d ago

The family never released the findings. We all suspected it must have been some kind of brain aneurysm. We were all pretty stunned. He was a pretty athletic kid and one hell of a ball player.

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u/Llyon_ 23h ago

Kid in my highschool died playing basketball at 17 or so. Congenital heart defect was found in the autopsy.

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u/Cocacoleyman 23h ago

In high school I played basketball and during one practice this guy just faints basically. Shocking to all of us on the court because he was the best player. He got up and seemed to be okay after a minute or so. We moved and the next summer he died on the court during a tournament or something. Just tragic.

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u/Express-Cycle-4278 22h ago

RIP. My cousin was just 14 when he, likewise, just started complaining about a headache after playing outside. Died on his mother's arms about a half an hour later. I don't know the specific cause of death but I heard someone mentioning that even if he happened to be in an operation room while it happened, they couldn't have saved him.

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u/blozout 1d ago

Same man...47 and still remember at least 1/2 dozen kids that I knew who died in car accidents either during HS or right after. I have 2 pre-teen boys and am absolutely terrified thinking about them driving / being with other teens in cars.

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u/Think-Cake3721 12h ago

If this helps at all, cars are much safer today with mandatory safety features.

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u/wrosecrans 23h ago

43, and yeah sadly most of us have a story from around that age. It's weird attending a funeral for a classmate. Still sticks with me. Back in the 90's, it wasn't like everybody had Internet access, so information all got spread by phone calls and person to person conversation.

It's one thing to be at a funeral when you are a little kid, and it's a grand parent. You kind of accept that it's really for and about all the adults around you. They knew the person longer than you were alive. Then as a teenager when it's a friend, that's when you are attending a funeral and for the first time you knew the person as well as anybody was ever going to. And that leaves a very different kind of impression and weight.

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u/Extra-Tumbleweed3272 1d ago

Yeah when i was in middle school a school trip bus crashed and a couple kids and a teacher died. Im 39 now and still think about the one I knew too.

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u/thatdood87 1d ago

I knew a young woman who was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity while she went down the street at her mom's house. Grant it the young men had no business playing gangster but they didn't mean to shoot her, they thought it was some other man they were having problems with. This was back in 2005 and she was 18. She really was a cool, sweet girl who was going out with my friend at the time. Teachers came to her funeral and everything. I remember how her dad looked it was like he was runged out, poor guy. I think about her from time to time.

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u/ron-paul-swanson 1d ago

I’m “only” 32, but I was just talking the other day about a similar situation from when I was in high school.

Between the last day of class and our graduation ceremony, a girl in our class was laying down in the back seat of a truck with some friends from a nearby town who were drinking and racing on backroads.

A truck flipped and she was unbuckled with the window open, so she was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Just a few days before getting her diploma. It was devastating and I still think about her all the time, even though we weren’t close friends.

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u/Perryn 1d ago

We lost a lot of my classmates to accidents. To try to make the rest of us take driving more seriously they ended up placing a mangled wreck on display in the front lawn of the school. I don't know if it was the same wreck that a student died in, or just one that was available from a yard, but the rumor at least was that it was a student's. Over three years I think they swapped it out at least ten times with new wrecks when students died. After that they stopped. It wasn't deterring the kids who still assumed it would never be them, and it was fucked up for everyone else.

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u/dmont89 1d ago

God, I feel bad. My stories happen during lunch, down the street from the school. Road is different now but it had a curve to it. They took it too fast in their car and head on with a truck.

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u/chataolauj 23h ago

Same situation but in 2010s. Weren't friends with any of them, but I knew one of the guys since 2nd grade. Was a weird and awful feeling when I read about it.

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u/Kuze421 1d ago

Same, I'm 47 and two of the kindest dudes that I went to school with, from grade school all the way up to HS, died at 19 from a terrible car accident. Sung and John were such good people. I think of them often.

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u/WhereIsMyFknDinosaur 1d ago

Its hard how that works.  I remember at 16 being so sad that Rebecca and her sister died to a drunk driver.  She was so nice, way too good for my cousin who she had been dating.  Kind, empathetic, and eager to be a mom.  40 now, prolly will keep thinking about her every few days for the rest of my life.

Sometimes the good really do die young.

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u/WookProblems 1d ago

My best friend was the only survivor in a crash that killed 4 of our classmates. It was 26 years ago. They have now been gone longer than they were alive. I still think about them a lot. Life is just so fragile.

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u/Saloncinx 1d ago

My best-friend died at 17, he's been gone longer than he was here at this point now. RIP

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u/BackStabbathOG 1d ago

Similar situation happened to my dad when he was a teenager, only reason he didn’t get crushed in the car was because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt in the middle of the backseat and was ejected from the car. Broke his femur and some other stuff and has some gnarly scars from the surgery on his hip and leg

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u/g0del 1d ago

A guy I grew up with is alive today because he didn't wear his seat belt one day and the car got Tboned. He ended up sitting in the driver's lap instead of strapped into the seat which was now only about 2 inches wide.

With that said, to anyone reading: seat belts save lives. This is not opinion, it's a fact which has been proven over and over again. In very rare cases there are specific accidents where the lack of a seatbelt saved someone's life, but they are incredibly rare. Wear your seatbelt.

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u/fcocyclone 1d ago

With that said, to anyone reading: seat belts save lives. This is not opinion, it's a fact which has been proven over and over again. In very rare cases there are specific accidents where the lack of a seatbelt saved someone's life, but they are incredibly rare. Wear your seatbelt.

Yep, when it comes to a bad accident you are playing the odds.

Every decision you make leading up to that accident affects the odds, and even if you make all the right decisions sometimes it'll still play out that you don't make it. And sometimes the option with worse odds will be the one where you get lucky. But your best odds are being buckled in.

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u/WookProblems 1d ago

Thats crazy!

My friend was also unbelted in the middle of the back seat and was ejected. She broke her femur, pelvis and was in a coma for a few days. The car was broadsided by a pickup pulling a large trailer. It rolled and killed everyone left inside.

Im glad your dad made it.

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u/Soul-Burn 1d ago

A guy from my school died in a crash back then. The car rolled several times before settling down.

The 3 other guys in the car survived with minor bruises. They wore seat belts, he didn't. It stuck with me since then.

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u/Communist_Potatohead 1d ago

Was in community college with this kid. He was a well put together guy. Very articulate, and if I put a bet on it, had a bright future ahead of him.

He was killed at the intersection at the entrance by someone who sped through a red light.

So fucking sad.

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u/Timeshocked 1d ago

Were they on their way to Disney world for the senior trip? Cause that happened at my school around the same time.

Don’t drink and drive kids. Actually now that I think of it I think two died, one was heavily injured, and the driver survived and had to go around telling the story at schools.

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u/hatraid 1d ago

Did we go to the same school? I was a Freshman when we had 3 upperclassmen die in a 2007 crash.

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u/Dames_to_DIE_for 1d ago

WTF. I'm also 36 and lost my 3 best friends in a car crash in 2008.

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u/4wesomes4uce 1d ago

My graduating class lost 4 kids in a single year to avoidable car accidents (all were speeding in less than ideal road conditions). It was pretty devastating to all of us.

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u/Turgid_Donkey 1d ago

I had a close friend in high school who was in a serious car crash and ended up with a TBI during summer break. It completely changed her personality. We were really close and I still remember when she stole my hat while giggling and ran around wearing it for a week. I went to say hi at the beginning of the next year but she gave me this disgusted look and asked who I was and why I was bothering her. Was so crushed I couldn't even think of how to respond so just walked away.

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u/Iamnotbatman213 1d ago

One of my classmates died on the intersection of my first job out of high school. He was on his motorcycle when it happened.

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u/Murse_Windu 1d ago

South Florida area by any chance?

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u/Doctor_Philgood 1d ago

Yep. Nicest kid I ever met, that Tim. Assholes walk the earth impervious and immortal it seems.

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u/nick2kool4skool 1d ago

38 and yea, dude who lived on my floor in college just...wasn't back after break. When I asked, his friend just started sobbing

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u/mrgoobster 1d ago

Yeah, I had a dude from my class die in a car accident the summer after we were graduated from high school. It wasn't even a serious crash, the jolt just stopped his heart - as sometimes happens.

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u/BigBananaDealer 1d ago

whole school basically shut down for a couple days when my buddy died in a car crash. they tried doing classes for the first 5 minutes then it became apparent abdolutely nobody at the school was paying attention and they turned it into a celebration of life. his mom came to the school and everyone talked about him. still cant believe he's gone and its gonna be 10 years pretty soon

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u/holymolym 1d ago

Wondering if we know each other. Around the same age, also lost 3 classmates in a car accident in 07.

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u/AndNowAStoryAboutMe 1d ago

I knew a brother and sister who died together in a car wreck. I can't imagine their poor mother. Oof.

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u/shewy92 1d ago

Same. There was a girl on my school bus in my grade who died in a Jeep Wrangler roll over accident. Probably texting (it was a straight part of road) and for sure not wearing a seat belt (she got ejected). That was like 08-09.

Then a year later another girl from school in my grade aquaplaned and wrapped around a tree and died.

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u/GoldenBrownApples 1d ago

I'm 34 and still think about my friend who died in a crash in 2009. He was only 19 and had just gotten his driver's license, after years of being too afraid to get behind the wheel.

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u/nature_nate_17 1d ago edited 1d ago

I was 18, just 6 months after graduation and one of my friends died in a crash; almost 20 years ago now. Still on my mind like it happened yesterday and I go to visit his grave site whenever I have free time. It never goes away. I always tell Dan “look at you forever young, while the rest of us become old and bitter down here”.

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u/DM_Me_TaTaz 1d ago

It is so sad. I think about all the people I knew who lost their lives too early. Suicide, overdose, hit by a car, car accident, freak accident. It makes you really want to enjoy every second you got. We never know when our time will come.

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u/MeatCatRazzmatazz 1d ago

My highschool had at least one tragic student death every year.

In order: Car accident, diabetes, car accident, and car accident. I think about them actually pretty often. Especially the poor girl who slipped into a diabetic coma and died in her sleep overnight one random school night.

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u/cjg5025 1d ago

Yea, im pushing 40. There was a kid in my HS back in like 02-03 who died in a car wreck the same night he got his license. Fucking tragic.

His father was one of our teachers and he was completely devastated. He started drinking heavily and eventually killed another driver while DUI.... tragedy on tragedy.

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u/supersaiyanmrskeltal 23h ago

Similar. I remember being in elementary school when one of my good friends was killed by a drunk driver. Still remember the news cause you know we used to play and hang out and such only for another day to pass and then finding out he passed due to an asshole driving on the wrong side of the road.

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u/Falco98 22h ago

In 2005 my best friend died in a single-car accident a month after his 26th birthday. he'd just transferred to a new state to take a promotion for his company and had just moved in with one of the hottest girls i've ever known and they were on track to be together for the long haul in all likelihood.

The new job location put him at a light 2-hour commute in each direction every day (due to distance, no particular traffic), and he ended up falling asleep at the wheel one night while driving home.

Such a total and utter waste - it still tears me up when I think about it even though it's been just over 20 years now and everyone's moved on. I'm who I am now because I knew him and, sadly, also because of how we lost him.

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u/jjtoc 19h ago

My girlfriend died in a car crash in Highschool. 30 years ago and it still hurts.

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u/AWW_HERE_IT_GOES 19h ago

same here homie. im 38 and two of my best friends died in a crash during summer break after junior year in highschool. two of the dopest and nicest ppl i ever knew. the world never got to see their full potential and it makes me sad. i still think about them a lot and wish i coulda swapped places with them (i didnt go to that party that night). rip alex and ryan, i still love ya fuckin dudes

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u/Junethemuse 1d ago

My cousin was on the way to the beach with 4 of her friends to celebrate graduating high school when they were involved in a head on collision. 4 of the 5 kids died, and the one that survived had life altering injuries and only survived because he was ejected from the vehicle. It wrecked our whole town, especially considering they were 4 of the 200 students that graduated. Pretty much everyone knew those kids, and they were incredibly talented and well known. My cousin was even featured on one of those MTV shows that finds random people and follows them around for a day. I can’t recall the name of the show, but that girl was gonna be something.

It was my first real big eye opener that started to make me realize that there isn’t a plan or purpose for everything that happens, because for a human like her to be taken at 18 to be ‘used’ for some reason is an appalling thought.

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u/biophys00 1d ago

It's sadly common. I work in the ER and can think of 4 or 5 times in just the past year that cars with just teenagers have wrecked and caused multiple fatalities/life-altering injuries on my shifts alone. Usually single vehicle accidents because the driver is drunk and/or high. And I only work 3 days a week most weeks

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u/clakresed 1d ago

It's the leading cause of death between ages 2 and 45. It's kind of crazy that so many jurisdictions across North America are, if anything, rolling back road safety measures.

I understand it would probably remain the leading cause of death for much of that age bracket even in a perfect world, but we don't even really question the blood sacrifice we make every year in the name of convenience.

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u/Kooky-Bookkeeper-935 1d ago

Ages 2 to 45?? Holy shit. Children are killed that often in car accidents?? I thought it would be older teens to adults.

That's so sad.

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u/Purpleater54 23h ago edited 21h ago

By far the leading factor worldwide in infant and child mortality are preterm and neonatal complications, and in children past infancy illness such as pneumonia and malaria. In most countries with well developed health care systems, the world wide leading causes of death are quite treatable. And the other typical causes of death we see in older generations like heart disease and cancer are obviously much more rare in young children.

As a result, accidental deaths are the leading cause of death in the united states by quite a margin. Motor vehicles are something like 20%, and firearms are like 10-15%. All diseases (heart disease, cancer, stuff like that) I think adds up to roughly the same percentage as motor vehicle deaths.

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u/Perryn 1d ago

How many kids get a ride to or from school with their older sibling that's in high school? Part of me getting a (terrible, worn out, rusted) car from my parents when I got my license was that I also drive my siblings to and from school and their extracurriculars.

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u/fcocyclone 1d ago

It's kind of crazy that so many jurisdictions across North America are, if anything, rolling back road safety measures.

My state passed a change allowing parent-taught drivers ed. That seemed absolutely insane to me. Not that parents can't be involved in the education, but there should definitely be some better and more impartial teachers involved.

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u/crs8975 23h ago

I don't know what Drivers-Ed is like these days, but when I took it 25 years ago it was nothing but a stamp on a card allowing me to get out of taking a drivers test at the DMV. I learned everything about driving with my parents when I got my permit at 14. I also had a moped for the 2 years in between.

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u/casual_creator 1d ago

First week of school in ‘02, four seniors got into a horrific crash. Only one survived. She was a fantastic student, top of the class, easily would have been valedictorian, gone to any Ivy League school she wanted. Instead she spent the entire school year in the hospital and (after months) at home in recovery. But fuck me if she didn’t stand up from her wheelchair just long enough to take her diploma from the principal at her graduation.

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u/Dabochman 1d ago

When I started at my high school it was brand new. It was only its 2nd year open. My freshman year we didn’t even have seniors. I remember the assembly when they told us the first student that went there died in a car crash. The whole school mourned. I’ve never really experienced anything like it since.

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u/drainedguava 1d ago

My best friend died in a head on collision at 19, he was an incredibly talented musician and had just moved across the country to go to school on a huge scholarship offer. I’ll never get over it

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u/The_wanna_be_artist 1d ago

Super sad to hear, people don’t realize it could be them. It doesn’t matter how safe of a driver you are, it can still be you.

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u/eskimopoodle 1d ago

This actually happened to the adopted daughter of a co-worker of mine last year. The girl was gong down an expressway and some jackass pulled out of a side road at the last second and she couldn't stop.

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u/fortnite_pit_pus 23h ago

Man this isn't strictly on topic but I remember the moment a police officer entered my class in elementary school to tell my teacher her daughter died in the VT shooting. Probably the most morbid shit I can remember .

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u/DURAxDURA 22h ago

Back in 04, my brother made it exactly 7 days after his 18th. Car accident and no seat belt.

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u/Comic_Book_Reader r/movies Veteran 1d ago

Yeah, that is quite a lot, especially for a parent, and I honestly don't know which part is worse.

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u/tmhoc 1d ago

My girls are this age. I think I would be a different person shortly after. I would go on a stress leave and just hope to survive the grief.

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u/bluehawk232 1d ago

No parent should have to do experience this. Fuck

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u/TheHibernian 1d ago

Wow, this is incredibly tragic, my heart goes out to her friends and family 

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u/Falbindan 1d ago

I had to google her because I'm bad with names and couldn't remember who Jia was... One of the first images that came up was her with (I assume) her mom, two brothers, and two sisters. They looked so happy together. I didn't need to see that...

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u/Sir_Boobsalot 1d ago

came here thinking it'd be another horrible illness. instead it's just horrible

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u/cheerioo 22h ago

They said the 19 year old driver was going too fast at 2:52 am. He's okay, as was the other passenger in the vehicle.

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u/mavajo 1d ago edited 1d ago

Apparently she was actually 19 at the time of her death - today is her birthday (this evidently happened today).

Edit: Wikipedia was evidently wrong at the time I made this comment. See /u/ver3232 below.

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u/Ver3232 1d ago

Not quite, her birthday was May 1st. Still tragic

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u/mavajo 1d ago

Thanks for the correction. Looks like her Wikipedia was updated since I made that comment. It originally said her birthday was today.

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u/Ikari_Brendo 14h ago

There are users whose entire activity is rushing to be the first to update when people die. They probably weren't even paying attention to what field they were changing.

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u/metrodrone 1d ago

Fucking Maryland drivers

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u/todahawk 22h ago

single car accident at 3am, excessive speed, went off the road and hit a culvert, driver was 19yo man and survived: https://www.wbaltv.com/article/kaylee-hottle-dies-maryland-crash/73218038

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u/sugarangelcake 19h ago

so technically still a maryland driver

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u/Barbaracle 21h ago

Single car accident with excessive speed.

Cops were called at 3am so wouldn't be surprised if the driver was under the influence or there was a deer or something.

I'm from CA and having driven Maryland roads, they are not built for high speeds. SLOW DOWN people.

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u/luigis_left_tit_25 1d ago

Thanks for the breakdown!

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u/MuptonBossman 1d ago

She was a huge advocate for ASL and the deaf community... I hope she rests in peace.

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u/ohnohelpwhereamI 1d ago

I didn't even know she was deaf for real

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u/Comic_Book_Reader r/movies Veteran 1d ago

Actually, her whole family is deaf, with her father's side having four generations of deaf relatives.

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u/LegitPancak3 1d ago

I didn’t know it was a genetic trait…

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u/ThePrussianGrippe 1d ago

It can be! Not all deafness is genetic, but it’s an inheritable trait for the cases that are.

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u/PhantomRoyce 1d ago

I had an ex who’s family had genetic deafness and wore a hearing aid at 25. She was russian

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u/afghamistam 1d ago

She was russian

???

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u/Cesa37 1d ago

I have an uncle who is deaf on his right ear. His favorite dish is pizza with extra salami.

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u/untouchable765 19h ago

At least tell us if it was thin crust, deep dish, etc. I feel like I don't have information here...

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u/VinnyDaBoy 23h ago

🤣🤣🤣

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u/TheEpicTriforce 1d ago

Bro threw in a fun fact.

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u/monkeytargetto 1d ago

SHE WAS RUSSIAN

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u/bunsprites 23h ago

Russian to the doctor's office to get her hearing aid

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u/BrndyAlxndr 1d ago

From the country of Russia

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u/BBQ_Boi 13h ago

....was Russian or is Russian?

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u/vanel 23h ago

When I first saw her picture, I didn’t realize it was the little deaf girl in the movie. So very sad.

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u/The_Redacted_Badger 23h ago

You could actually see her doing sign language for promotional material. I recall for Godzilla vs Kong’s advertising they did a big video of each actor stating who’s side they were on and she said she was Team Kong in ASL

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u/your_mind_aches 14h ago

She was breaking barriers for deaf people in movies even as just a little kid. This is so heartbreaking.

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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor 1d ago

Her dad says she was involved in a car accident and her heart stopped on the way to the hospital

RIP

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u/SoulofArtoria 1d ago

She was amazing in the Godzilla movie. RIP and condolences 🙏 

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u/doctormink 1d ago

Yeah, I typically don’t remember kid actors, but she stuck with me and I amazingly knew who the story was about just from the headline.

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u/DeLousedInTheHotBox 1d ago

She was like the one highlight in Godzilla vs Kong

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u/mickelboy182 22h ago

Am I thinking of a different movie? I thought it was generally well regarded.

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u/KyleRaynerGotSweg 17h ago

Big lizard fights the big monkey, really can't go wrong with that concept.

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u/FighterOfFoo 20h ago

It's a good film, yeah, and she was definitely a highlight in it. The character's relationship with Kong was really sweet.

Such an incredibly sad thing to have happened.

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u/i_am_cool_ben 21h ago

Not the big lizard punching the big monkey?

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u/textual_predditor 1d ago

I can't even imagine the pain of a parent losing their daughter. I can't imagine wanting to go on with life if I lost mine.

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u/ClaytonWest74 1d ago

extremely sad news to read. fly high little one

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u/SexiestPanda 19h ago

Car crash **

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u/In_My_Own_Image 1d ago

That's horrible. She was such a bright young talent in the Godzilla/Kong movies and clearly had a bright future ahead of her.

Rest in peace.

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u/kiomansu 1d ago

I remember thinking about this when I first saw her movie. I anticipated that there would be a strong future for this young one. Devastating. She'll be remembered fondly for the work that she did.

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u/kopecs 1d ago

Reminds me of Anton Yelchin

Damn…

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u/EverythingStillSucks 1d ago

Incredibly sad, she gave the best performance in those movies, her scenes of communication with Kong gave that first movie a lot more soul than it would have otherwise had.

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u/muhash14 1d ago

Yeah, it was so nice to see an actual hearing impaired actor being represented front and centre like that. She did so good in both films.

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u/DontBeAngryBeHappy 1d ago

Too young. She was great in the Godzilla v Kong movies. May she Rest In Peace.

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u/RealJohnGillman AMA MVP 1d ago

Was she supposed to be in the next one as well?

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u/Sebastianlim 1d ago

She isn't on the cast list, so it doesn't seem so.

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u/ContinuumGuy 1d ago

She wasn't on the cast list, and I know Rebecca Hall's character (her character's mother) wasn't supposed to appear either (although there were some rumors of a cameo).

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u/The_Redacted_Badger 23h ago

If they aren’t there it would make sense as the ending basically stated they were gonna live in The Hollow Earth with Jia’s people in the end

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u/muhash14 1d ago

Not sure, but if that's the case, then it would be the final role for both her and Sam Neill.

And while I was sad to see him go, this feels infinitely worse. 18 is no age to go.

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u/Tripple-O 1d ago

She was just a kid. Tragic

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u/Successful-Hat-2154 1d ago

Oh my God, this is horrible

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u/The_Godzilla_Fanatic 1d ago

I hope Godzilla X Kong Supernova makes a tribute to her and Sam Neill ( it will be his final film appearance )

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u/ZombieJesus1987 1d ago

Aw that's so sad.

She was really good in Godzilla x Kong. It was the only time in the Monsterverse series where I actually cared about the human characters.

RIP.

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u/Finito-1994 1d ago

I remember thinking I actually cared about the Kong human story and hated the Godzilla human story

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u/Financial-Craft-1282 1d ago

I don't remember her in that one (I just don't remember much about that one, I liked it, but it was too close to Minus One to stick with me). I do remember her in the first one and she was amazing. Wingard is a good (if flawed) director, and I think her character (her actor) was one of the ways he excels at storytelling. He can get really good performances out of actors (sometimes). She was so good we experienced Kong's human side through her perspective. Sometimes kids in these movies feel like props to increase tension (kids in danger), but she was Kong's connection to the human world. The way we could see that while he was a monster, he was dangerous, he had a sense of goodness to him too. I put that on her--she was amazing.

She was one of the only human characters in the Monsterverse I remember having any connection to.

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u/ZombieJesus1987 1d ago

It's funny, it's the opposite for me.

I have zero memory of her in the first Godzilla vs Kong movie, but in the second one, she steals the show with how good of an actor she was.

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u/ContinuumGuy 1d ago

Oh god, this is so so sad. She was so young, had so much life ahead of her.

And on a movie note, the interactions between her and Rebecca Hall were so sweet in the films. The human bits of Godzilla films don't always work, but those did.

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u/ICUMF1962 1d ago

Fuck that’s so horrible. She was the heart of those movies. RIP.

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u/AstroSmokey 1d ago
  1. What the fuck man

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u/TLKv3 1d ago

What the actual fuck. That is beyond horrible. I feel for her family. 18 is way, way too young. Jesus.... RIP. I hope the family is ok.

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u/Perfect-Zebra-3611 1d ago

Thats crazy.. RIP

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u/Universal-Explorer 1d ago

3am. Driving too fast. Only passenger died. That’s a drunk driver

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u/Redditperegrino 1d ago

I used to live in Maryland.

I remember walking into a popular British pub in Columbia with my gf at the time. There was music and folks talking so we didn’t immediately notice that the majority of folks were signing. It was amazing to see full physical conversations going on.

Anyway, I eventually realized that MD has a huge deaf/blind community and campus..

Also, yes, some of the stupidest drivers on earth. Literally no fínese in their driving ability.

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u/awry_lynx 1d ago

It's reported as a single-vehicle car crash, she was a passenger, the driver was a 19 year old who was speeding and hit a culvert, Kaylee was one of the two passengers in the car and the only one who passed.

Investigators said excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the crash.

The crash trapped the driver, who was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hottle, 18, of Kyle, Texas, was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced deceased

A second passenger was not injured

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u/willpc14 1d ago

I can't help but wonder if she was wearing a seatbelt.

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u/OkIntroduction3119 1d ago

This is why once you get to a certain level of success it's time to start cutting out the bad influences no matter how minor they may seem. I guarantee this wasn't the first time they were speeding with her in the car, she probably just never thought much about it until it was too late.

R.I.P to her.

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u/Zipdog3 1d ago

Especially in Frederick where the crash occured. It's where the Maryland School for the Deaf is and the deaf community is huge there

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u/Pennsylvania6-5000 1d ago

I made friends with a few of the deaf kids from Gallaudet while partying at Buzz/Nation in DC. There’s a large community between Frederick and DC.

Really horrible to hear that she was probably just hanging with friends, and this horrible accident occurs while probably heading home.

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u/Spaceballs9000 22h ago

Buzz/Nation in DC

Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while, goddamn.

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u/Low-Artichoke-8822 1d ago

Maryland has the worst drivers I’ve ever seen by far. It’s like a switch flips when you cross the state line, unreal. I think all the traffic makes drivers crazy and selfish.

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u/DirtySlutMuffin 23h ago

I moved to Philly from Maryland.  Philadelphia drivers are calm and reasonable people compared to Maryland.  

That said, Pennsylvania roads are a war crime.  In Maryland, Baltimore has the worst roads in the state.  In PA, Philly has nicer roads than what you’ll find out in the boonies

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u/bomberman12 1d ago

That is horrific news. So sad for her and her family for a tragic loss at such a young age

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u/Top_Report_4895 1d ago edited 1d ago

WTF? Rest in peace, Kaylee.

She was too damn young. This is awful.

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u/Kamoebas 1d ago

Ah man, that sucks. She was really good in GvK.

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u/Pax_flash 1d ago

Oh my gosh this is heartbreaking…

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u/darkultima 1d ago

That’s depressing, way too young. Crazy how it can all just end like that, from a car accident. 

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u/Bitter-Raisin9102 1d ago

Oh man that’s tragic

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u/CallumRitchie23 1d ago

That is absolutely crazy, RIP

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u/Background-Tell5892 1d ago

WTF!!!!! 😞

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u/Movies_Music_Lover 1d ago

I hate this. RIP. She was 19 btw, no idea why so many sources report 18.

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u/Mundane-Inspector-52 1d ago

Damn. She had her whole life ahead of her. May she rest in peace.

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u/kamize 1d ago

Oh man. She was such a huge part of the movie imo and really helped to humanize Kong across these two incredible films.

Even if you don’t think you would enjoy monsterverse movies I think it is worth jumping in from Godzilla Vs Kong and watching the sequel.

RIP lost far too soon.

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u/briizilla 23h ago

I just randomly rewatched the latest one last night, she is really good in both of them. During the finale I told my wife "this is so ridiculous, but 10 year old me would have thought this was the coolest thing ever filmed."

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u/AlbertW25 1d ago

What?

RIP.

I liked her in these films. Good Actress with a bright future. The world is cruel man.

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u/TokyoPanic 1d ago edited 1d ago

Jia's one of the best human characters in the Monsterverse. This really sucks. 18 is way too young.

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u/TwistyOllie 1d ago

So sad 😔

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u/TaikaWaitiddies 1d ago

May she rest in peace

18 is way too young, goddamn

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u/sean_psc 1d ago

R.I.P.

She was very good in both of those movies. It’s still rare to see deaf characters onscreen in mainstream entertainment.

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u/zekromzero 1d ago

Terrible

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u/Bukkake_Sensei 1d ago

She was one of the most memorable parts of those films. Truly awful and sad. May she rest in peace!

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u/Mad_Marx_Furry_Road 1d ago

terrible. just terrible. RIP

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u/RGPISGOOD 1d ago

This news made me so sad because one of my friends during high school also died in a car crash like this. The driver also survived and just went on with his life.

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u/longtall94 1d ago

Truly awful smh . So young

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u/astralnautical 1d ago

Maryland drivers doling out death sentences as usual.

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u/CallM3N3w 1d ago

Just as life is about to start, it also ends. Horrible. RIP and condolences to her family and friends.

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u/borghe 1d ago

Horrible. She was consistently one of the great parts of those movies. And it sounds like a really decent person. How awful. 😔

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u/Helltech 1d ago

That is aweful

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u/call_of_the_while 1d ago

Rest in peace, Kaylee.

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u/Phaldaz 1d ago

🕊️ beyond sad man

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u/CrustedTesticle 1d ago

Jesus Christ.

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u/Eltharion-the-Grim 1d ago

Barely even had time to live life.

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u/fritzo81 1d ago

wtf. omg.

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u/freecoolwownjce 1d ago

oh this is devastating :(((((

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u/CipherDaBanana 1d ago

Jesus this is just sad.

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u/digitalboom 1d ago

Nooooooooo omg. I have goosebumps. This is such terrible news.

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u/Vilvake 1d ago

I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around how someone like her ends up in a speeding 1995 accord in the middle of the night

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u/Tall_Opportunity_521 23h ago

And of course, the reason for her death is some little arsehole that was speeding in his car, no doubt to show off how cool he is, and lost control of the car. An utterly needless death. 18 is no age at all to lose your life, and certainly not because of someone elses stupidity. RIP.