Sophia Hutchins, Caitlyn Jenner’s manager, dies in Malibu crash
ArchiveFirst published July 4, 2025. It may not reflect later developments.
Sophia Hutchins, the longtime manager and close friend of Caitlyn Jenner, died on July 2, 2025, after the off-road vehicle she was driving went over a cliff near Jenner’s home in Malibu, California. She was 29.
What happened on Decker Canyon Road
The crash happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Decker Canyon Road in the hills above Malibu, according to Los Angeles County officials cited by ABC7 and KTLA. Hutchins was driving a 2013 Polaris side-by-side, a type of all-terrain vehicle, when it struck the back of a moving gray 2016 Mazda 6.
After the collision, the ATV went off the side of the road and fell roughly 350 feet into a ravine. Firefighters had to rappel down to reach her, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The two women in the Mazda were not injured.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eduardo Saucedo said early findings suggested Hutchins “may have been speeding and rear-ended the other car,” which then caused her to veer off the cliff, as he told the Daily Mail in remarks later reported by KTLA and People. Officials said at the time that it was not known whether drugs or alcohol played any role.
Death certificate and funeral
About two weeks later, a death certificate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, obtained by People and TMZ, listed the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death as an accident. Hutchins was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Los Angeles on July 24, 2025.
Caitlyn Jenner’s response
Jenner, who was 75 at the time, was reported to have been at the scene after the crash. She spoke publicly about the loss on Aug. 28, 2025, during an appearance on Fox News @ Night, where she had been invited to discuss a deadly school shooting in Minneapolis.
“Just recently, my good friend Sophia passed away in a tragic accident,” Jenner said, according to People. “For the last seven weeks, I’ve been dealing with death, and it’s so difficult.”
Jenner connected her own grief to that of families in Minneapolis, where a shooting at a Catholic school on Aug. 27 had left two children dead. “Here I am dealing with my grief, and I just can’t even imagine parents who dropped their kid off at school,” she said. “I’ve been dealing with grief, and these people have a long road ahead of them.”
Who was Sophia Hutchins?
Hutchins was born in Seattle and met Jenner in 2015, the year Jenner came out publicly as a transgender woman. Hutchins, who was also a transgender woman, appeared on Jenner’s E! docuseries “I Am Cait,” later became her manager and served as chief executive of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation. She also ran a sunscreen company, LUMASOL.
The two shared a home in Malibu, and were frequently photographed side by side, which fueled years of tabloid speculation about a romance. Both repeatedly denied it. In 2021, Hutchins told People that Jenner “is a parent to me” and that their bond was “a parental, familial relationship.”
“I feel so blessed and humbled to be a part of such an amazing family and that she treats me like a daughter,” Hutchins said at the time.
Why it matters
Hutchins’ death drew wide attention because of her closeness to one of the most famous members of the Kardashian-Jenner family, but it also highlighted the risks of recreational off-road vehicles on public mountain roads. The winding canyon roads above Malibu combine tight curves, steep drop-offs and through traffic, and investigators’ early account suggested that a single rear-end impact at speed was enough to send the vehicle over the edge.
For Jenner, the loss was deeply personal. Hutchins had been at her side for roughly a decade, through her public transition, her television work and her 2021 run for governor of California, on which Hutchins also worked, according to The Daily Beast.
Sources
- People (cause of death) – July 2025
- People (Caitlyn Jenner speaks) – August 29, 2025
- TMZ – July 16, 2025
- KTLA – July 2025
- The Daily Beast (2021 campaign) – 2021
- ABC7 Los Angeles – July 2025
