US boxer Hannah Rapp, who in June fought for the World Boxing Council women’s featherweight championship, was killed on Saturday while she bicycled in Texas after a motorist struck her with his car, according to authorities.
Rapp was 26, and investigators arrested a 31-year-old man identified as Charles Medina in connection with her death, the sheriff’s office of Brazos county, Texas, said in a statement.
The agency said Rapp and a fellow bicyclist were riding on a local road when Medina passed them in his car, stopped, and drove his vehicle in reverse. Medina then hit Rapp, and she was pronounced dead after emergency responders brought her to a hospital.
Brazos deputies said they booked Medina on a count of manslaughter, which Texas law defines as recklessly causing a person’s death. The sheriff’s office did not provide additional details, saying the “isolated” case remained under active and ongoing investigation.
Word of Rapp’s death prompted tributes from her colleagues in professional boxing.
“The loss of Hannah Rapp leaves us heartbroken,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said in a prepared statement. “She was an exceptional boxer, but above all, an invaluable member of our boxing family.
“We join in the grief that overwhelms her loved ones, her team, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and supporting her throughout her brilliant career.”
Rapp had registered eight victories – including five by knockout – and drawn once during her first nine pro career bouts. For her tenth outing, the Yorktown, Indiana, native challenged Tiara Brown of Fort Myers, Florida, for her world title belt in the WBC’s 126lb (57.2kg) weight class.
Brown retained her belt with a unanimous decision win at Florida’s Caribe Royal Orlando resort. Nonetheless, on Saturday, the champion wrote on social media that Rapp “was the best dance partner I have ever faced as a pro”.
“We fought a GREAT fight for the fans from the [first] bell to the last,” Brown wrote. “It was my honor to share the ring with her.”
Medina’s bond amount was not immediately set, and he remained in custody on Sunday morning, Brazos jail records show.
Those jail records also showed prior arrests for Medina on counts such as deadly conduct by discharging a firearm, assault causing bodily injury, and reckless driving. Dispositions for those cases weren’t immediately available.
Medina could face between two and 20 years in prison under Texas law if eventually convicted of manslaughter in Rapp’s death.
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