Woman charged with murder after girl, 7, stabbed to death by stranger in street

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A woman has been charged with murder after a 7-year-old girl was stabbed to death in a Chicago street.

​Eddimar Paola Hernández Chacón was stuck multiple times around noon Saturday, by a woman she did not know, authorities told NBC Chicago.

Shavon Gayden, 48, has now been charged with first-degree murder after the attack in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood, Chicago police confirmed.

​Richard Hernández Chacón, the girl’s uncle, shared a tribute to her on a GoFundMe page launched to help give her a “dignified farewell.”

​“To our family, Eddimar will always be a very special girl,” the tribute, translated from Spanish, reads. “Her passing leaves an indescribable void and immense pain for all of us who loved her.”

​A vigil for Eddimar was held Sunday, with members of her family and the local community gathering near the scene of the attack. Those present let off white balloons in tribute.

​Pedro Izquierdo, Eddimar’s stepfather, opened up to ABC7 Chicago about his stepdaughter’s death.

​“She was happy,” he said in Spanish. “She had dreams to be big.”

​Surveillance footage obtained by NBC Chicago depicts the aftermath of the stabbing and shows bystanders rushing over to an area that appears to be where Eddimar was attacked.

The girl, who Alderman Michelle Harris said was walking with her 16-year-old sister at the time of the attack, later died at Comer Children’s Hospital.

​Witnesses told WGN that two men, one of whom held an object resembling jumper cables, chased down the suspect after the attack.

​“He whacked her with it. She fell, he whacked her again,” William Smith, a witness, said. “Then they just started dropping the hammers on her.”

Gayden was arrested and taken to the hospital for non-threatening injuries.

Legal documents obtained by ABC7 Chicago found Gayden was arrested in 2023 for attacking the driver of a CTA bus, and sentenced to two years' probation.

​In 2024, Gayden assaulted two shelter workers - violating her probation, per ABC. A warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to appear in court, having been sentenced to court supervision.

Kina Wallace told CBS News Chicago that Gayden had previously been in a relationship with one of her family members, who had children with him. The mother was later treated for substance abuse and mental health issues, Wallace said.

“Myself and even on behalf of my family, we are so sorry,” she added. “So sorry that this happened to your loved one, because I believe that this could have been prevented. I do and it's unacceptable.”