In what police have called a “tragic accident,” 26-year-old Samantha Perez died after she was run over by her own vehicle early Friday.

Police believe Perez got out of her car, but accidentally left the vehicle in gear, according to Gary Mack, spokesman for the Melrose Park police. She then somehow tripped and fell under the vehicle, which ran her over.

The victim was pinned under her vehicle about 3 a.m. in the parking lot of the Burlington Coat Factory in Melrose Park, according to local police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Perez was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she died 12 hours later of complications of traumatic asphyxiation from a motor vehicle rolling over a pedestrian, according to the medical examiner’s office. Her death was ruled an accident following an autopsy on Monday.

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