Crime & Law
Woman Charged With Fatally Stabbing 7-Year-Old Girl Walking in Chicago Saturday
(Victor Hilitski / WTTW News)
A 7-year-old girl was fatally stabbed while walking in front of businesses in the Chatham neighborhood, and people nearby detained the woman who attacked her, police said.
Chicago police said the girl was walking in the South Side neighborhood late Saturday morning when a woman carrying an unspecified sharp object approached her and stabbed her multiple times in the back.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the girl as Edi Mari Hernandez Chacon. She died at a hospital.
A security photo from a nearby business showed the girl that witnesses identified had been walking hand-in-hand with an older female on the sidewalk, WLS-TV reported. Police did not share any information about that person.
Shavon Gayden, 48, of the 8700 block of S. Constance Ave., was charged with first-degree murder, police announced Sunday.
Gayden was taken to the hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening and was arrested, Chicago police said in a statement. Gayden is in police custody and had a hearing scheduled in court Monday, but she remains hospitalized and was unable to appear, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. That hearing has been continued to Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if there was any relationship between the attacker and the girl. Police have not commented on a possible motive for the stabbing.
The Associated Press contributed.
