Pro Boxer Hannah Rapp Killed While Cycling in Brazos County; Driver Charged With Manslaughter

What Happened on FM 159?

Professional boxer Hannah Rapp, 26, died Saturday, July 18, 2026 after being struck by a vehicle while riding her bicycle in Brazos County, according to reporting by KPRC 2 and ABC13/ESPN.

The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched just before 10 a.m. to the 23000 block of FM 159 — between College Station and Navasota — for a major crash involving a vehicle and a bicyclist. First responders provided emergency medical care at the scene before Rapp was taken to a local hospital, where she died.

Investigators said the driver, 31-year-old Charles Medina, passed two cyclists traveling along FM 159, then stopped, reversed, and struck one of them. Medina was arrested and charged with manslaughter and taken to the Brazos County Detention Center, the sheriff’s office said. A charge is an accusation — he has not been convicted, and the criminal case will be decided by the courts. Detectives said they currently believe it was an isolated incident, and the investigation remains active.

Who Was Hannah Rapp?

Rapp, a former Purdue track athlete who relocated to College Station, turned professional in 2024 and rose quickly in the women’s featherweight division, compiling an 8-1-1 record while working full-time as a fire and life safety inspector at Texas A&M, according to ESPN. In June she challenged Tiara Brown for the WBC women’s featherweight championship, losing a unanimous decision in a fight Brown called one of the best of her career. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said in a statement that her loss “leaves us heartbroken.”

Who Can Be Affected?

A death like this raises questions for more families than one:

• The parents and family of a cyclist killed by a driver — the family members Texas law recognizes in a wrongful death case
• The second cyclist who was riding alongside her — witnesses to a traumatic crash sometimes have their own legal questions
• Any Texas cyclist or family navigating the aftermath of a crash with a vehicle — cyclists on farm-to-market roads are among the most exposed people on Texas highways
• Families facing funeral costs, lost income, and grief after any roadway death

What Kind of Claim Might Apply?

Attorneys who handle Texas roadway death cases generally describe several paths that can apply once the facts are established:

• A wrongful death and survival claim — under Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, the surviving spouse, children, and parents of a person killed by another’s wrongful act can generally seek compensation for their losses, and the estate can bring a survival claim.
• Cyclists have the same rights as drivers — under Chapter 551 of the Texas Transportation Code, a person riding a bicycle on a Texas roadway generally has the rights and duties of a vehicle driver — a driver who strikes a cyclist can be held responsible the same way as in a car-to-car crash.
• The civil case is separate from the criminal case — a criminal prosecution is brought by the State and decides guilt; a civil claim is brought by the family and decides compensation. They proceed in different courts under different standards of proof, and a family’s civil rights do not depend on waiting for the criminal case to end.
• Deadlines — for most Texas wrongful death claims, Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code sets a two-year statute of limitations, with limited exceptions.

A lawyer can obtain the crash report and investigative findings, preserve physical evidence and witness accounts, identify every insurance policy and asset that may apply, and monitor the criminal case on the family’s behalf.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

In a case that is also being prosecuted criminally, much of the evidence sits in the State’s file — but civil deadlines run on their own clock, and some evidence, like roadside physical evidence, vehicle data, and independent witness memories, is best preserved early. Many families choose to have a lawyer preserving evidence and monitoring the criminal proceedings on their behalf from the start, so no deadline arrives before they are ready.

Sources

1. KPRC 2 Houston — Pro boxer Hannah Rapp dies after being struck while riding her bike in Brazos County, sheriff says
2. ABC13 Houston / ESPN — Boxer Hannah Rapp struck by car while riding bicycle, dies at 26, Brazos County Sheriff’s Office says
3. Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Chapter 71 (Wrongful Death; Survival)
4. Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 551 (Operation of Bicycles)
5. Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Chapter 16 (Limitations)