A Napanoch man has been indicted on felony manslaughter charges more than a year after a two-vehicle crash on State Route 209 in Wawarsing killed a 24-year-old Ellenville woman. Raul E. Braddock-Toala, now 26, was arrested on Oct. 14 following an Ulster County grand jury indictment handed up Oct. 6, state police said.
The crash happened at approximately 8:38 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, near Barthel's Farm Market and Creamery along Route 209, according to Hudson Valley One. A 2008 Honda and a 2022 Subaru, both traveling in the same direction, were involved in the collision near 8097 State Route 209, as reported by the Times Union.
The victim, Kaelyn Alexandra Rausch, sustained critical injuries and received emergency life-saving care at the scene before being airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. She died two days later, on Oct. 7, 2025, five days after her 24th birthday, according to a report cited by Radio Catskill that drew on a Facebook post detailing her emergency transport.
From Uninjured Bystander to Indicted Defendant
Braddock-Toala was not reported injured at the scene. He was originally identified by police as a resident of Woodbourne, New York, per the Sullivan County Democrat. He was 25 at the time of the crash.
It took a full year for the case to reach a grand jury. Braddock-Toala was arrested on Oct. 14 by members of the State Police Ellenville Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Troop F Community Stabilization Unit, following his Oct. 6 indictment, according to Radio Catskill. He was processed at the Ellenville barracks and then remanded to Ulster County Jail without bail after being arraigned Thursday, per state police. The Times Union additionally reported that Ellenville barracks personnel, Bureau of Criminal Investigation members, and the Troop F Collision Reconstruction Unit had responded to the original crash.
Braddock-Toala was charged with felony second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment, according to the Times Union. State police have not released specific mechanical or forensic findings regarding how the two southbound vehicles collided, per Radio Catskill's reporting.
What the Charges Carry Under New York Law
Second-degree manslaughter, charged under New York Penal Law Section 125.15, is a Class C felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors must prove a defendant acted recklessly by consciously disregarding a substantial risk — a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would behave, according to a legal explainer from the Westchester Defense Attorney firm.
Criminally negligent homicide, the secondary charge under Penal Law Section 125.10, is a lesser Class E felony punishable by up to four years in state prison. It applies when someone fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death, rather than consciously ignoring one, as detailed by the Law Offices of Jason Bassett. Braddock-Toala was remanded without bail.
A Prior Road-Rage Arrest in Florida
Months before the Wawarsing crash, in June 2025, a 25-year-old named Raul Edwardo Braddock-Toala was arrested in Osceola County, Florida, on felony charges for allegedly throwing a full soda can at a moving vehicle during a road-rage incident, according to the Osceola News-Gazette. Florida authorities charged him with throwing a missile into an occupied vehicle and criminal mischief.
A Deadly Stretch of Route 209
Rausch's death marked the second fatal crash on Route 209 in Wawarsing within a five-day span last autumn, following a Sept. 30, 2025 head-on crash that killed a 36-year-old Ellenville woman, according to Patch. Route 209 has continued to see serious crashes since then. Hoodline previously reported on a head-on crash in Mamakating that left a 27-year-old passenger critically injured.
