Police say bystanders detained the 48-year-old suspect after the child was attacked while walking with her older sister.
CHICAGO — A 48-year-old Chicago woman has been charged with first-degree murder after a 7-year-old girl was fatally stabbed while walking along a sidewalk in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood, authorities said.
Police identified the accused woman as Shavon Gayden. Authorities said she was taken into custody minutes after the attack Saturday morning near South Cottage Grove Avenue and East 86th Street. The child was later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Eddimar Paola Hernández Chacón. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive for the attack.
Police said the stabbing happened about 11:55 a.m. Oct. 3 as Eddimar was walking south along the sidewalk. Investigators said a woman approached the child with a sharp object and stabbed her multiple times in the back. Eddimar was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Ald. Michelle A. Harris, who represents Chicago’s 8th Ward, said Eddimar had been walking with her 16-year-old sister. Harris said the sisters had gone to a nearby Boost Mobile store to pay a phone bill and that the woman followed them after they left. Authorities have not said why Eddimar was allegedly targeted.
People who witnessed the attack moved quickly to detain the woman before police arrived, according to authorities. Surveillance video obtained by local television stations showed people rushing toward the area where the child had been attacked and others pursuing the suspect. Police said the woman was injured while being detained and received hospital treatment for injuries that were not life-threatening before she was placed in custody.
Initial police accounts did not identify the accused woman or announce charges. By Sunday evening, authorities said Gayden had been charged with first-degree murder. A criminal charge is an allegation, and Gayden is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court. Authorities had not publicly explained what investigators believe led to the attack.
The killing prompted a community gathering Sunday as Eddimar’s relatives and neighbors held a vigil in her memory. Participants formed a prayer circle and released white balloons. Family members described the girl as cheerful and said she enjoyed singing and dancing.
Harris said the child’s death had shaken the neighborhood and praised the people who intervened after the stabbing. Their actions, she said, may have prevented additional harm. The attack occurred along a commercial stretch of Cottage Grove Avenue lined with neighborhood businesses.
Police initially said it was unclear whether the attacker and child knew one another. Later reporting from local authorities described the woman as someone Eddimar did not know. Investigators have not announced a motive, and no explanation for why the girl was allegedly selected had been released as of Sunday night.
The case remains under investigation as authorities move forward with the murder charge against Gayden. Further details about the evidence, the circumstances leading to the attack and the next court proceedings had not been publicly released.