The affidavit notes the rear hatch of Medina’s car was crushed inward and the rear window was completely shattered. Investigators also documented skid marks from braking and a separate set of skid marks from reversing; the affidavit says the reverse skid marks appeared to show the driver steering toward something while backing up. Medina told deputies he had just left home when he passed two cyclists on the south side of FM 159. He said he heard them yell and saw them throw their hands up, and believed they were trying to flag him down, so he braked hard and came to a stop.

Medina told investigators he began backing up and did not see the female cyclist until the last moment before hitting her. When asked how fast he was reversing, Medina said, “15 mile per hour,” according to the affidavit.

An investigator later spoke with a witness identified as Rapp’s boyfriend, who told deputies he and Rapp were cycling eastbound when Medina passed them at a high rate of speed, about a foot away. Pollalis said he threw his hands up and yelled, then watched the driver brake to a stop, reverse and accelerate backward before striking Rapp, causing her head to hit the rear window and knocking her onto the roadway.

Investigators wrote that physical evidence at the scene- including skid marks, the severity of the vehicle damage and Rapp’s final resting position- did not match the driver’s account of reversing at low speed and instead indicated a heavy impact