Prosecutors laid out new details Monday about the apparently random, fatal stabbing of a 7-year-old girl on the South Side. They said 48-year-old Shavon Gayden pulled a knife from her bag, charged at the girl and her older sister, then grabbed the child, took her to the ground, and attacked her.
Gayden was not present at Monday’s detention hearing because she remained hospitalized with head injuries she apparently suffered when angry bystanders caught up with her and attacked her.
Shortly before noon Saturday, October 3, Gayden threatened a clerk inside a store near the scene of the attack in the 8600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, prosecutors said. She then walked out of the store and crossed paths with 7-year-old Eddimar Hernandez Chacon, who was walking in the opposite direction on the sidewalk, holding hands with her older sister.
Prosecutors allege Gayden pulled a knife from her bag and charged at the sisters. The older girl managed to get out of the way, but Gayden allegedly grabbed Eddimar, took her to the ground, and stabbed her repeatedly in the back.
Witnesses chased Gayden after the attack and physically assaulted her, leaving her unconscious, prosecutors said. Eddimar was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Prosecutors also confirmed CWB Chicago’s previous reporting that police found two knives inside Gayden’s bag and recovered a third knife nearby that is believed to be the murder weapon.
Gayden’s court file shows she pleaded guilty in November 2024 to aggravated battery of a CTA bus driver in South Chicago and received two years of probation. The following month, in December 2024, she was arrested again on misdemeanor battery and assault charges, resulting in a probation violation. She pleaded guilty to those charges in July 2025 and was sentenced to court supervision, according to court records.
Despite appearing in court as recently as July 2025 and pleading guilty in the probation-violating case, court records show Gayden has had an active arrest warrant since February 2025 for failing to appear for a status hearing in the probation matter.
Gayden’s detention hearing was rescheduled for Wednesday because Illinois law requires defendants to be physically present when prosecutors seek to have them detained. She will remain in custody until Wednesday’s hearing on the pending murder charge. She will also remain detained on the outstanding warrant.
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