Homeless woman sleeping in park run over by lawn mower

A 27-year-old homeless woman was run over by a commercial tractor lawnmower on Saturday as she slept in an area of high weeds in Modesto, California.

The park was acquired on Friday by E & J Gallo Winery and hired Grover Landscaping Services to trim the area.

Because of the high weeds, the contractor who was mowing the area didn't see Christine Chavez until he had mowed over her body, leaving chunks of bone and flesh strewn over the area.

He immediately contacted local police, who declared Chavez dead at the scene.

Chavez had a nine-year-old daughter, who was not there at the time of the incident.

Her father and other family members were horrified at what had happened and described it as "terrible." Others decried the city's treatment of homeless people and said they weren't doing enough about the problem.