A vigil was held Friday for a California woman who was fatally run over by a lawn mower in a park July 8, according to ABC 10 News.
Christine Chavez, 27, was sleeping in the grass at Beard Brook Park in Modesto around noon Saturday July 8 when she was apparently cut to pieces by a landscaper on a lawnmower, according to the ABC 10 news report. Local police reportedly said a Grover Landscape Services Inc. (GLS) employee was cutting the grass using a mower hitched to the back of a John Deere tractor. The employee says he saw a body in an area he had already mowed and then called 911, the outlet reported.
Dez Martinez, a formerly homeless person and now CEO & founder of We Are Not Invisible explained why Chavez was sleeping out in the park in the daytime, saying, “We have to stay up all night because it might be dangerous to sleep at night, because you might be raped, stabbed, murdered. When the daytime comes, it’s time to go to sleep, it’s broad daylight, there’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people,” per the report. (RELATED: 1-Year-Old Girl Killed After Mom Allegedly Runs Her Over Accidentally)
Family of woman killed after being run over by lawnmower at Modesto park mourn her https://t.co/WQmJ5OsRGv
— ABC10 (@ABC10) July 15, 2023
Police reportedly said that the investigation into the incident was complete and that it appeared to have been accidental. No charges have been filed at this time.
Christina’s father, Christopher, said in an interview, “I know that even if you are driving a tractor you can see even the small rocks. It’s a lie that they didn’t see her,” per the Independent.
A GoFundMe campaign set up by Esmeralda Chavez read in part, “[My father] would find pieces of my sister’s skull with hair still on the floor and bones with chopped skin. My dad called immediately to the police they came again and picked up the rest. Mom came all the way from Arizona and wanted to see her daughter’s last moment spot. She and my siblings started finding more pieces.”
GLS Inc. released a statement that read in part, “We are deeply saddened by these events. Our hearts and sympathies go out to her friends and family. Grover is providing counseling services to the operator due to this traumatic experience,” per ABC 10.