US boxer killed while cycling

US boxer, Hannah Rapp, who in June fought for the World Boxing Council (WBC) 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.

While the sheriff’s office didn’t provide additional details, court records reported by the Texas news outlet KHOU said Medina had sped past Rapp and her boyfriend when the boyfriend raised his hands.

The court records alleged that Medina slammed on his brakes, backed into Rapp and hit her so hard that she shattered the rear windshield.

Medina, when speaking later with investigators, denied hitting Rapp on purpose, said the records cited by KHOU. He allegedly told them that he believed Rapp and her boyfriend were flagging him down, so he stopped, backed up and did not see Rapp until right before hitting her, KHOU reported.

In a statement to the Guardian, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said it was “too early in the investigation [into Rapp’s death] to determine whether road rage was a factor”.

Rapp had registered eight victories including five by knockout and drawn once during her first nine pro career bouts.

For her 10th 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.-The Guardian

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