Homeless Woman Sleeping In California Park Killed After Being Run Over By Landscaper

A homeless woman was found dead in a 12-acre California park last weekend after a local landscaper called authorities minutes after fatally mowing over her while she slept in overgrown vegetation.

Christine Chavez, 27, was pronounced dead July 8 at Beard Brook Park in Modesto, California, by local police, who said an unidentified employee with Grover Landscape Services, Inc. driving a John Deere tractor with a pull-behind mower accidentally ran over her while cutting the grass.

Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear told the Modesto Bee that the crew member was working in the park when he “noticed a body in the grass he had already made a pass through,” adding it was unknown if the landscaper involved in the “terrible accident” did not see the woman sleeping in the field without a tent.

Police reportedly completed an investigation stating it appears to have been an accident, and no charges have been filed.

Members of Chavez’s family described the area where Chavez died as parched with overgrown weeds that reached just below knee level.

Her father, Christopher Chavez, said he recovered “many pieces” of his daughter’s body from the park. He told ABC10 that law enforcement “didn’t pick up everything.”

“I went there, and I still have pieces of bones — like pieces of her skull and some teeth,” Chavez told The Modesto Bee. “It’s terrible.”

Grover Landscaping Services told Fox 40 the company fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities during the investigation.

“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,” the statement reads.

“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,” it continued.

The landscaping contractor had been performing weed abatement and fire prevention services for E. & J. Gallo Winery, the largest wine company in the world, which acquired the Beard Brook Park property located nearby less than 24 hours before Chavez’s death.

The city of Modesto reportedly had swapped land with the winery after months of negotiations. Beard Brook Park, which was once a designated homeless encampment, was traded for waterfront property held by Gallo that the city planned to transform into an estimated $6.3 million three-quarter-mile riverwalk in the Tuolumne River Regional Park.

Gallo spokeswoman Krista Noonan confirmed the incident in a statement involving the hired contractor, adding the winery fully cooperated with the investigation.

“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. There was an accident at approximately 12:00 p.m. involving the contractor’s tractor and an individual who was not visible and laying in a tall, weeded area,” the statement reads, in part, according to The Modesto Bee.

“Gallo expresses its sincere condolences to the family of the victim,” it continued.

Chavez’s death marks the second fatality involving a homeless individual and a contractor crew.

In August 2018, a Caltrans employee operating heavy machinery along the southbound side of Highway 99 rolled over 32-year-old Shannon Bigley while clearing a homeless encampment. Bigley reportedly was asleep when the driver removed the presumed unoccupied belongings.

Black Lawmaker Flooded With Racist Hate Mail After Switching Parties

Georgia Stae Rep. Mesha Mainor made headlines when she announced last week that she was leaving the Democratic Party — and in the days since, she has received a virtual tidal wave of hate mail, much of it overtly racist and profane.

Mainor shared some of the emails she’d received — riddled with nasty language and racist epithets — in a series of screenshots on Twitter.

“Dear Democrat, Sorry you feel this way,” Mainor captioned the screenshot of one email.

***WARNING: Extremely graphic language***

I would like to help your retarded black a** by telling you. That saying you would support any candidate picked by the GOP during the primary is retarded. Not only is is retarded you live up to the word n****r by just following blindly. Remember you were a Democrat and “felt abandoned” to become a Republican, and now you’re going to follow blindly like you did with your party. You’re the stain on society that needs to be flushed. I wish you the absolute worst in your political history. You Uncle Tom b****.

Dear Democrat,
Sorry you feel this way. pic.twitter.com/wH0zBNp7jy

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

“Sorry you feel that way. And thank you to the HUNDREDS sending well wishes,” Mainor captioned another.

***WARNING: Extremely graphic language***

You dumb** aunt Jemima mother f***ing traitor! I will be sure to take a good chunk of my retirement savings, which is substantial, and will donate it to whoever it is that will be running against you, you self-hating black negress b****.

Oh, yo’ll see come 2024 how I will help to make sure you are defeated! Go run in a Republican confederate district that loves self-hating n****rs lie you!

Dear Democrat,
Sorry you feel that way. And thank you to the HUNDREDS sending well wishes. pic.twitter.com/Vvnkih0HJu

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

“Dear Democrat, I’m sorry you feel this way. Support for anyone with thoughts of self- harm can be accessed by calling #988,” Mainor captioned one that advised her and all Republicans to kill themselves.

***WARNING: Extremely graphic language***

Convincing conservatives and their dips*** children to commit suicide is the greatest service one can offer humanity.

Dear Democrat,
I’m sorry you feel this way. Support for anyone with thoughts of self- harm can be accessed by calling #988.https://t.co/rDTeXPNEdK pic.twitter.com/H3CHIq9TCD

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

Another trotted out a series of racist tropes, ordering her to “get back on the plantation” and telling her to stop eating “fried chicken and watermelon with Vernon Jones.”

***WARNING: Extremely graphic language***

Dear Democrat,
I’m sorry you feel this way. pic.twitter.com/IYIyukVw1W

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

“Dear Democrat, I’m sorry you feel this way. I pray everyone has a great Sunday! It’s another day the Lord has made,” Mainor captioned one that was particularly vulgar, suggesting that she deserved to be lynched.

***WARNING: Extremely graphic language***

F*** you c**n, you monkey b****, you wanna be a party traitor and go under Brian Kemp’s whip because he offered you more yams and collards? You are despicable and poplar might serve you well.

Dear Democrat,
I’m sorry you feel this way. I pray everyone has a great Sunday! It’s another day the Lord has made. pic.twitter.com/dsy9l9OYnP

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

Mainor shared several other emails – some making lascivious references and others suggesting that she was better suited to the type of work slaves had done on plantations. In her response to each, Mainor began by saying, “I’m sorry you feel that way …”

In another tweet Mainor noted that her values and principles had not changed in the least. “An ‘R’ next to my name doesn’t change who I am. Priorities: education, public safety, jobs, healthcare, and senior resources,” she said, challenging her critics to watch how she voted going forward before they attacked her.

 

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