Around 2018, Caitlyn Jenner, then 68 years old, began dating and then living with Sophia Hutchins, who was then around 22. Hutchins was a college student at the time. Sophie and Caitlyn both had a difficult time defining their relationship – Sophie seemingly worked for Caitlyn as a publicist/manager/all-around helper, and while they lived together and called each other partners, Sophia didn’t want to be called Caitlyn’s girlfriend. Over the years, Sophia and Caitlyn would step out together occasionally, but they had both been very quiet in recent years. Well, some really tragic news – Sophia died in a terrible ATV accident last week.
Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident, PEOPLE confirms. She was 29.
TMZ was the first to report the news, citing law enforcement and family sources. PEOPLE has reached out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Jenner, 75, for comment.
Hutchins was pronounced dead on the morning of Wednesday, July 2, in Malibu, Calif., the outlet reports. Hutchins was driving an ATV down a road near Jenner’s Malibu home when she crashed into the bumper of a moving vehicle carrying two passengers. The ATV was forced over the shoulder and fell 350 feet down into a ravine.
Both passengers in the other vehicle were uninjured, per TMZ.
Hutchins served as CEO and director of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation. The pair met in 2015 when Jenner announced her transition. They quickly bonded, with Hutchins later praising Jenner for pushing her to grow. Hutchins went on to appear in multiple episodes of her E! reality series I Am Cait.
This is devastating. She was so young, my god. What a crazy accident as well. I wondered exactly what kind of ATV she was driving, so I watched a NY Post video of the crash scene (warning on this link). I honestly can’t tell, but the vehicle really did crash down a very steep ravine. It doesn’t sound like anyone thinks there’s any kind of foul play. Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- (FILE) Sophia Hutchins Dead At 29. Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Malibu, California. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 09: American businesswoman, television personality, and socialite Sophia Hutchins arrives at The Recording Academy And Clive Davis’ 2019 Pre-GRAMMY Gala held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 9, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1018384448, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sophia Hutchins, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- (FILE) Sophia Hutchins Dead At 29. Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Malibu, California. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 09: American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner and American businesswoman, television personality, and socialite Sophia Hutchins arrive at The Recording Academy And Clive Davis’ 2019 Pre-GRAMMY Gala held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 9, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1018384455, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Caitlyn Jenner, Sophia Hutchins, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- (FILE) Sophia Hutchins Dead At 29. Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Malibu, California. MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA – SEPTEMBER 11: American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner and American businesswoman, television personality, and socialite Sophia Hutchins arrive at the alice + olivia By Stacey Bendet – Presentation – September 2018 – New York Fashion Week: The Shows held at Pier 59 Studios on September 11, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.,Image: 1018384521, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Caitlyn Jenner, Sophia Hutchins, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- (FILE) Sophia Hutchins Dead At 29. Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Malibu, California. MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA – SEPTEMBER 11: American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner and American businesswoman, television personality, and socialite Sophia Hutchins arrive at the alice + olivia By Stacey Bendet – Presentation – September 2018 – New York Fashion Week: The Shows held at Pier 59 Studios on September 11, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.,Image: 1018384521, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Caitlyn Jenner, Sophia Hutchins, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- (FILE) Sophia Hutchins Dead At 29. Sophia Hutchins, a close friend and manager to Caitlyn Jenner, died in an ATV accident on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Malibu, California. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – DECEMBER 11: American businesswoman, television personality, and socialite Sophia Hutchins and American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner arrive at WE tv’s Real Love: Relationship Reality TV’s Past, Present And Future Event held at The Paley Center for Media on December 11, 2018 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1018384586, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sophia Hutchins, Caitlyn Jenner, Credit line: David Acosta/Image Press Agency/Avalon
ATV’s are extremely dangerous. They’ve been known to roll over on people causing loss of limbs and even life. Don’t ride them. That’s all I got.
I echo this. I have a family member who is in a wheelchair with spine injury from an ATV accident.
Oh goodness I’m so sorry — I live in Montana, and every single year someone’s kid is killed in an ATV accident. They go as fast as cars, but people think they’re toys.
12 years ago my sister was in a really bad atv accident. Her bf at the time was driving and they’d all been drinking and were driving recklessly in backcountry areas. Stupidly. Recklessly. Ignorantly. At night. Sorry, I get mad when I think about it. What a bunch of idiots. She has suffered from crippling migraines ever since they went over a cliff and the atv landed on top of her and cracked her skull open and broke her collarbone. Did her bf and friends take her to the hospital right away? No they did not. We did. 24 hours later. Honestly, I can’t believe she survived. It doesn’t sound like this accident involved alcohol? but they can be very dangerous either way.
This is awful. Poor girl. Poor family.
I have no interest in looking at the photos so I can’t speculate but I’ll just say: ATVs are super dangerous and prone to rolling! If you must use an ATV, never take a steep downhill!
The report sounds vague. Did it occur during the night? Was there drinking involved? Tragedies happen when bad decisions are made. There’s reasons why ATVs are banned from class 5 roads.
The details are still coming out. The police think she was going over the speed limit when she rear-ended the car. It’s so dangerous.
My condolences to her friends and family. That is a very shocking way to lose someone so young.
ATVs are incredibly dangerous and are involved in so many accidents! My husband’s cousin was in an ATV accident in Oklahoma. He survived, but received a TBI and lost his senses of taste and smell.
How horrifying. There have been a few fatal ATV accidents very near me in the past few years. A lot of people have them around here. Just a couple of weeks ago a man was killed a half a mile up the road from me when his ATV rolled over while he was on his way to help a driver whose car broke down. ATVs are so dangerous.
In the video of the scene there was a previously crashed abandoned car where the ATV ended and up makes me wonder why there are no guard rails in that area, especially given it’s obviously a dangerous area with a steep drop off.
It happened during the day on Decker Canyon Road, which is a notoriously difficult drive. It’s one of the first roads that linked Malibu to Thousand Oaks (over the mountains and inland) and was built before the era of heavy equipment. It snakes and curves through the mountains, with no guardrails and very steep drops. People go there to race and crashes are common.
How sad. The two seem inseparable. I’ve seen them all around Malibu – at Pepperdine events and often at Kristy’s a local eatery close to where they lived. Kaitlyn must be devastated
. RIp
Sophia was trans herself and was the first openly trans person to graduate Pepperdine.
Her relationship with Caitlyn is definitely complex. Sophia dated men and never wanted to define her relationship with Jenner. (Not that it was anyone’s business anyway.) But they were definitely extremely emotionally tied and Sophia was close to her daughters and stepdaughters.
I’m trying to understand this, she was driving on the road with an ATV? I thought that was illegal. And then when I went to the photos of the accident I don’t understand the vehicle itself. When I picture an ATV I imagine sort of a like a snowmobile but with big wheels. This vehicle looks more like a golf cart, it has 4 seats and a frame for a roof. What am I missing here?
Either way, the poor woman. I’m going to have nightmares about this tonight.