Prosecutors released fresh information Monday regarding the allegedly random, fatal stabbing of a 7-year-old girl on the South Side. Shavon Gayden, 48, allegedly removed a knife from her bag and charged at the girl and her elder sister before grabbing the toddler, dragging her to the ground, and attacking her.
Gayden did not attend Monday’s detention hearing because she was still in the hospital with head injuries from an apparent attack by irate spectators.
Gayden threatened a clerk inside a store near the scene of the incident on Saturday, October 3, just before noon, according to prosecutors. She then stepped out of the store and came upon 7-year-old Eddimar Hernandez Chacon, who was heading in the opposite direction on the sidewalk, holding hands with her older sister.
Prosecutors say Gayden took a knife from her backpack and charged at the sisters. The elder girl tried to escape out of the way, but Gayden allegedly seized Eddimar, threw her to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed her in the back.
Witnesses chased Gayden after the attack and physically beat her, knocking her unconscious, according to authorities. Eddimar was transferred to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Prosecutors also confirmed CWB Chicago’s prior story that officers discovered two knives in Gayden’s bag and located a third knife nearby, which is thought to be the murder weapon.
Gayden’s court file states that she pled guilty to aggravated violence on a CTA bus driver in South Chicago in November 2024 and was sentenced to two years probation. The following month, in December 2024, she was arrested again for minor battery and assault, resulting in a probation breach. She pled guilty to the charges in July 2025 and was sentenced to court supervision, according to court documents.
Despite appearing in court as recently as July 2025 and pleading guilty to probation violations, court documents show Gayden has had an active arrest warrant since February 2025 for failing to appear for a status hearing in the probation case.
Gayden’s detention hearing was rescheduled for Wednesday due to Illinois law, which requires defendants to be physically present when prosecutors seek their imprisonment. She will remain in detention until Wednesday’s hearing on the murder charge. She will also be jailed on the outstanding warrant.
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