It's a story that takes all the wrong turns from the start to the tragic finish.

Authorities say 26-year-old Tyree Monique Tate and her sister were caught shoplifting monday at the Lansing Mall's T.J. Maxx. Eaton County Undersheriff Fred McPhail says the women then sprayed security guards with mace and fled, running across Saginaw Highway. Tate's sister was caught; Tate found a hide out.

"She apparently jumped into a trash compactor after she had fled from the security guards at T.J. Maxx," McPhail says.

And it was in that trash compactor, behind Goodwill on Saginaw, that Tate was crushed as she hid from the law.

"They had an employee go out to cycle the compactor," McPhail says. "I don't know if they heard a scream or not."

There are warning signs all over the trash compactor, telling people to keep out and do not enter. Tate wasn't in the compactor for very long, only a few minutes, but it was long enough to cause major damage.

"Who'd think you'd jump into that and within a few minutes someone would come in and come outside and cycle the trash," McPhail says, citing this as being one of the most tragic, peculiar cases he's seen in 20 years of law enforcement.

Tate eventually died from her injuries early Tuesday.

Ingham County Medical Examiner Dr. Dean Sienko reviewed the autopsy results with News 10.

"The cause of death was multiple crush injuries," Sienko says, also saying he's never seen a death with these type of circumstances.

Tate's distraught family declined comment Tuesday at her Delta Township apartment. Her death is likely too much to bear and too painful to imagine.