A mum was killed after she was run over by a lawnmower while lying in a California park by an employee who was cutting the grass.
27-year-old Christine Chavez was lying in an area of Beard Brook Park in Modesto filled with weeds. An employee was driving a John Deere tractor with a pull-behind mower when he ran her over on July 8.
However, he was only able to spot Christine after he’d run her over. Her family were traumatised by the shocking incident, saying they found ‘chunks’ of her remains afterwards.
Her father, Christopher Chavez, said he went to the scene where he found parts of her body laying there. He also found some of her clothing left behind at the scene.
He recalled: ‘There were many pieces of [her remains] around there and I called the police. I went there and I still have pieces of bones, like pieces of her skull and some teeth. It’s terrible.
‘Christine was homeless at the time of her death and leaves behind a nine-year-old daughter who is being cared for by her family.
Another family member, who didn’t want to be named, told Fox40: ‘I mean, big chunks of her are all over the place, just covered up with the grass.
‘We have to go, you know, just like to see the place. And to be right there, looking at the ground and then seeing, like, chunks [of] hair is horrible.
‘The park was bought by E&J Gallo Winery the day before Christine was killed.
‘They put out a statement on Friday which read: Gallo acquired the Beard Brook Park property in Modesto on Friday, July 7, 2023.
‘On Saturday, July 8, 2023, a landscaping contractor was hired to perform weed abatement and fire prevention services.
A statement was also issued by Grover Landscaping Services, who cut the grass at the park.
It read: ‘In a dry, overgrown area, our operator discovered the body of a woman impacted by the pull-behind mower, at which time he contacted the Modesto Police Department.
‘Gallo and Grover have both promised to cooperate with any investigation into Christine’s death. Her brother-in-law Jose Zermeño said he has experience with the machinery involved in killing his sister-in-law, and believes there could have been negligence involved.
‘I work with machinery, I know when you are with machinery, you are paying attention to what is ahead of you, especially if you have something dragging behind you,’ he told Fox 40.
‘And for him not to see anything laying in front of him he wasn’t doing his job.’
Modesto police and Mayor Sue Zwahlen both spoke at the meeting, apologising for Christine’s death but calling it an accident.
A GoFundMe was set up by the family to raise money for her daughter and get justice for Christine.
She explained the gruesome scene which met her family at the park after the incident which ‘destroyed her body’.
She said: ‘The police called my dad and told him that my sister was dead. My dad went to the scene when the police cars were gone.
‘There he would find pieces of my sister’s skull with hair still on the floor and bones with chopped skin.’
