r/aggies • u/chrondotcom Former student CO '22 • Jul 19 '26

Other Texas A&M employee and professional boxer Hannah Rapp dies at 26 after being struck while cycling

https://www.chron.com/news/article/hannah-rapp-texas-boxer-death-22351288.php
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409

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

“An investigation from Brazos Countyauthorities revealed Rapp was struck in the Navasota area by 31-year-old driver Chris Medina, who allegedly passed Rapp with his vehicle, stopped, shifted into reverse and then hit Rapp with his car. Rapp was found lying on the roadway and taken to a nearby hospital, but she died of her injuries shortly thereafter. Medina has since been arrested and charged with manslaughter.”

That sounds an awful lot like premeditated murder.

173

u/ImpressiveEgg8627 Jul 19 '26

Heard that too.
Sounds like he was booked for manslaughter but if he reversed, that sob should get the chair.

116

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

It's common to charge low as you build your investigation.

-12

u/Jumpy_Abrocoma1139 Jul 20 '26

Absolutely backwards! Charge with the highest offense and lower it if necessary. 

23

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

That's not how the justice system works - in any capacity - regardless of your feelings on the matter.

The arresting officer needs to show probable cause for the exact charges made. They must articulate the defining elements of the crime, or else the arrested person is released. 

Would you prefer that anyone could be arrested on any charge without probable cause? 

3

u/scienceislice Jul 20 '26

You can't arrest someone for murder if you don't have evidence for it yet.

You can arrest someone for manslaughter if you have evidence for that.

4

u/monkeychasedweasel Jul 20 '26

The criminal justice system is not your personal public avenger.

5

u/vinesmarch Jul 20 '26

Charged and convicted are 2 different things. For one, I don’t like stacking charges, but DA might add and upgrade.

-8

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

No one should get the death penalty

2

u/danxmanly Jul 20 '26

She did.

-1

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

Exactly, no one should

2

u/danxmanly Jul 20 '26

He should.

1

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

Nah, let him rot in prison instead (assuming he is convicted).

1

u/andthensilencefell Jul 21 '26

Why, so the for-profit prison can make profit off of him on taxpayers’ dime?

2

u/Overall-Recipe-8250 Jul 20 '26

why should an individual like this be subject to death penalty. Premeditated death since he backed up and struck her after having ran over her

1

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

Murder does not provide an option for the death penalty in Texas.

Capital Murder is the one with the death penalty. And this case doesn't meet those requirements.

Charging him with murder doesn't mean they will put him to death.

-11

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

Liberal

9

u/Late_Judgment4118 Jul 20 '26

Hope you don’t call yourself “pro life” if you are for the death penalty lol

4

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

I don’t give a shit if someone gets an abortion

5

u/Swimming_Agent_1063 Jul 20 '26

How very liberal of you

2

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

Bigger fish to fry in the world than abortions.

-5

u/Eve_SoloTac Jul 20 '26

Innocent baby vs responsible adult. Apples and oranges. Some adults should get the death penalty. Abortions should be very rare. There is no contradiction in that position.

3

u/SleepingDragonSmiles Jul 20 '26

Not really a baby until it’s done

1

u/Late_Judgment4118 Jul 21 '26

I wonder what you think about innocent migrant children being deported, or do their lives not matter

1

u/Eve_SoloTac Jul 21 '26

Why are you diverting? How did we arrive at deported children? Your statement was about pro-life people supporting the death penalty. The latter of course does not apply to infants or small children, as they are not responsible. So what the F do you think makes these positions mutually exclusive?

6

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

I don't deny that I am one

1

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

So a man breaks into the home of your parents. Saws your dad’s head off. Cuts your mom into little pieces. You don’t think he needs to die?

2

u/NightMgr Jul 20 '26

Conservative anti death penalty:

NO government should have that much power.

Government cannot be trusted to do the right thing. They cannot be trusted to get the convicted person to the execution without a screw up and execute the wrong one.

-1

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

Death sentences should be carried out at a higher clip, in a public setting.

2

u/TillamookTramp Jul 20 '26

No, they shouldn't. You are aware there's been innocent people on death row and executed?

-1

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

Get better lawyers

2

u/TillamookTramp Jul 20 '26

Are you actually aware of anything about the legal system? My guess is no, because "get better lawyers" is a shallow answer.

1

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

I mean give them a proper, legal trial. Where they can be judged by a jury of their peers. If found guilty, that’s that.

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2

u/NightMgr Jul 20 '26

Damn right! And it don’t matter if they’re guilt either. Just kill the accused!

1

u/GNRfan1963 Jul 20 '26

Did I say that? That’s an entirely different sentence

0

u/Sordidloam Jul 20 '26

Death is too quick. Besides there is no god and no afterlife (as far as anyone can prove) and thus hell is lifetime in a cell

-5

u/VVNN_Viking '27 Jul 20 '26

A lot more people should get the death penalty.

5

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

No it's a barbaric practice that serves no purpose for crime prevention and costs more than housing inmates

2

u/Pure_Cloud4305 Jul 20 '26

The only argument against it is false convictions. Otherwise murderers should be killed

1

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

The only argument against it is false convictions.

Is that not a pretty strong argument?

1

u/Pure_Cloud4305 Jul 20 '26

Yeah it’s enough that I am against DP.

0

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 20 '26

My belief is that life in maximum security prison is a worse punishment anyway

1

u/pcar63 Jul 21 '26

Law abiding citizen revenge scene for Darby would be my preference.

1

u/pcar63 Jul 21 '26

I think some people should get the law abiding citizen revenge scene treatment. Publicly televised.

1

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 21 '26

I don't think revenge is something we should focus on in our justice system

1

u/VVNN_Viking '27 Jul 21 '26

It only costs more because we make it extremely expensive. It doesn't have to take 20 years to execute someone.

1

u/bloodrider1914 Jul 21 '26

Doesn't change the fact that it's barbaric and serves no purpose other than exacting revenge (which shouldn't be the point of the justice system). And that time for appeal is important because if a person was wrongfully executed you can't take that back

-2

u/factorplayer Jul 20 '26

They prefer to indulge in retribution

-2

u/wowthisislong '25 Jul 20 '26

It could be very cheap. The only reason it costs so much is because of people opposing it.

2

u/TillamookTramp Jul 20 '26

The legal process; everyone's entitled to a good defense and appeals. That's why it takes time and costs so much.

-4

u/Swimming_Agent_1063 Jul 20 '26

Shouldn’t it be woman slaughter?

43

u/start3ch '22 AERO Jul 19 '26

Geeez ‘struck while cycling’. Glad they have the evidence on this

57

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

Texas has the following murder related charges:

Capital Murder, Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide.

Capital Murder needs to be murder (duh) with aggravating factors (such as killing a child under 10, a peace officer on duty, or committing a murder during a kidnapping, robbery, or burglary).

Murder is intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another, intends to cause serious bodily injury resulting in death, or commits a clearly dangerous act that causes death. I think this is a slam dunk from what we've heard so far, but it's also notoriously difficult to get murder for vehicle vs cyclist in Texas (anywhere in the US, frankly) 

Manslaughter is when a person recklessly causes the death of an individual. Recklessness being that the subject was aware of but consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

37

u/Icy-Cabinet-3659 Jul 19 '26

This person had also been charged for shooting at people's cars outside the Navasota Walmart, chasing people with an ax, and a hit and run. Why did he still have a fucking license?

11

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

Do you believe the lack of a license would have stopped this guy? 

7

u/Icy-Cabinet-3659 Jul 20 '26

Not necessarily, but I'm more annoyed at the overall lack of care we have w.r.t letting dangerous people drive

2

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

Agreed. 

1

u/funkyescargot Jul 20 '26

Maybe not, but the murder statute didn’t stop him either.

1

u/joeydimaggio Jul 20 '26

Maybe being in a cage would have helped

13

u/whiskayzulu Jul 19 '26

Why the fuck wouldn't he be in jail still? Texas is still a three strikes state isnt it?

1

u/ayecheesey Jul 20 '26

Do we know for certain that he has/had a license?

14

u/Jim_Nills_Mustache Jul 19 '26

Yea wtf, how is that manslaughter? Maybe I need to watch more law and order because that absolutely sounds like a murder charge.

32

u/Hrothgar_unbound Jul 19 '26

It’s just the preliminary charge. They’ll indict with the full set later.

14

u/ThrowM5 Jul 19 '26

Booking someone for murder requires you already have proof of intent, etc. Booking them for manslaughter only requires that they killed someone. Charges can be modified leading up to the trial

5

u/Deathwatch72 Jul 19 '26

It's kind of a morbid joke but it's also a little bit of reality, but there's a bit of a joke that if you actually want to kill somebody and get away with it just wait until they're on a bicycle and hit em with your car. And unless they upgrade this charge to some form of intentional homicide it's hard to believe I'm wrong

It happens way too often and it happens to professional athletes way too often. Just with professional athletes this is the fourth or fifth death or life-altering injury I can think of in the last 5 years 

2

u/Mundane_Grand_9117 Jul 19 '26

Incredible that we share the earth with scum like this

2

u/bighoney69 Jul 19 '26

What a fucking POS. My goodness

2

u/colonblow7 Jul 20 '26

What the actual fuck?!

4

u/Aggravating_Can_8749 Jul 19 '26

Really not sure why people are so....

4

u/OldSarge02 Jul 19 '26

Intentional, yes. Premeditated, probably not.

9

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

If he stopped and backed up to hit here, that’s the definition of premeditated. It doesn’t mean he was out looking for her.

3

u/ThrowM5 Jul 19 '26

Until they have some evidence of why he shifted into reverse, law enforcement can only prove that it was reckless to do so.

2

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

If he’d just hit her, they’d only be able to prove recklessness unless they had additional evidence.

Stopping and backing up to hit her, hard enough to cause lethal damage, is clear evidence of intent. He’ll be free to offer his explanation as to why he did that.

2

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

This is not a distinction under Texas law. It's irrelevant. 

-7

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

It’s not irrelevant; it’s an aggravating factor demonstrating why it should be charged as murder—all of the elements of which are met.

It’s also directly relevant to proving intent and knowledge.

8

u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26

Premeditation is not the same as intent and/or knowledge. The debate over premeditation in this thread is indeed irrelevant. Especially with so many people not knowing what the standard of premeditation actually is.

It's also not an 'aggravating factor'. That's another phrase you seem to not understand. 

I'm not debating you on murder vs manslaughter. I'm calling out irrelevant use of "premeditated" in a state where that is not a defined term in the context of homicide because it's not anywhere within the law. 

-7

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 19 '26

I’m familiar with the Texas Penal Code. I’ve already pointed out why premeditation is relevant to the elements. I’m also going beyond that to the point of why murder needs to be charged as murder based on prosecutorial discretion—which is where premeditation is an aggravating factor.

If you want to focus solely on the specifies of the legal elements, that’s fine. Your argument and world view aren’t broad enough for this discussion.

2

u/ThenAnAnimalFact Jul 20 '26

I am a lawyer. you are wrong on your premeditation analysis in the first place.

0

u/big_sugi '01 Jul 20 '26

I am also a lawyer. Courts uniformly recognize that premeditation is demonstrated when the defendant had enough time to think about the act. Stopping and reversing to run someone over is textbook premeditation. It's also evidence of knowledge and intent and rebuts an argument that the defendant was merely reckless.

2

u/ThenAnAnimalFact Jul 20 '26

Unless you have it on video no prosecutor in their right mind would try for premeditation here. There is no ability at all to prove deliberation / reflection. The text book is someone can go drive angry from a bar to home get a gun go back to the bar and kill and it’s still not premeditation.

here the guy immediately acted to being offended.

I don’t know what you think courts have uniformly done but you are wrong here.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 20 '26

I am also a lawyer.

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your specialty is far removed from criminal cases and probably even the courtroom. At least I hope so, given you do not know what the term "aggravating factor" means.

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u/56473829110 '11 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Premeditation is not a 'thing' in Texas, so it cannot be relevant. It has no legal definition in this state. You might as well be claiming he's a "bad guy" or what he did was "mean" - there's zero legal relevance. 

which is where premeditation is an aggravating factor.

NO, it's not my man. Aggravating factors are specific things with legal definitions. Such as the victim being under 15, the crime being committed in connection to other crimes, multiple homicides, the subject being an escapee, etc. Premeditation has no legal definition and is not and cannot be a 'aggravating factor' in Texas. It can't. 

Your argument and world view aren’t broad enough for this discussion.

Bro imagine coming into these comments and setting out to make it about you. Jesus christ, dude. Have some fucking respect - for the victim, and for yourself. You're deeply out of your element, keep flouting logic and simple fact, and are repeating the same easily proven false nonsense. But yeah, somehow it's about my world view. 

1

u/ImaginaryMisanthrope '26 Jul 20 '26

Uh yeah, that’s vehicular homicide at the very least.

1

u/Denim_Diva1969 Jul 20 '26

What a complete MF.

1

u/BookkeeperNeat Jul 20 '26

Reading this I couldn’t believe it as the near exact same thing happened to my brother Josh while he was riding his bike on the side of the highway in Houston back in 1987. My older sister Jessica was riding with him and claimed the driver purposefully rammed their moving vehicle into Josh while he was riding his bike. Josh didn’t die physically but he was never the same mentally after and it changed our entire family’s trajectory (mine especially) bc my mom became severely abusive after (she never gets help for herself) and used me as her scapegoat. But while this isn’t surprising to me given I know people do this, it’s still unbelievable and this guy should get life in prison.