Geneva woman charged in deadly State Road 46 crash
A Geneva driver was arrested nearly a year after a State Road 46 crash killed Edward Rathman and injured three others. Amanda Babcock now faces vehicular homicide charges.
Nearly a year after a deadly crash on State Road 46 near Geneva, deputies arrested Amanda Babcock, 37, and charged her with vehicular homicide and other felony driving offenses tied to the June 7, 2025 wreck. Rathman was killed and three other people were hurt.
The crash happened shortly before 9:15 a.m. at State Road 46 and Mullet Lake Park Road in Seminole County and involved a 2018 Ram 2500 pickup, a 2024 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van and a 2020 Cadillac XT6 SUV. Investigators said Babcock was driving westbound, tried to pass the van ahead of her and cut into oncoming traffic before striking the van and SUV. One report said she had been speeding and moving in and out of traffic. State Road 46 was shut down in both directions at Osceola Road for several hours after the wreck.
The timeline shows how a fatal crash can take months to turn into criminal charges. A Seminole County booking summary dated May 28, 2026 listed charges of reckless driving causing serious injury, two counts of reckless driving with damage to a person, and homicide or negligent manslaughter vehicle killing of person. Babcock was later taken into custody Thursday, May 29, 2026, and she bonded out of Seminole County Jail after the arrest. A later court notice set arraignment for July 14.
The case also puts a familiar Seminole County roadway back in focus. State Road 46 is a major east-west route in north Seminole County, used daily by Geneva residents, commuters and drivers moving between rural neighborhoods and growing development around the St. Johns River basin. When it backs up or closes, the disruption spreads quickly across the area.
Florida law treats vehicular homicide as the killing of a person caused by operating a motor vehicle in a reckless manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm, a second-degree felony. In this case, the legal process has now caught up with a crash that left one man dead and three others injured, turning a violent morning on SR 46 into a felony case that will continue moving through Seminole County court.
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