A woman with an extensive criminal history remains hospitalized after being charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a 7-year-old girl in a seemingly random attack Saturday on Chicago’s South Side, according to police.

Shavon Gayden, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the incident. She was scheduled for a court appearance Monday morning but could not appear because she’s still in the hospital.

The incident happened just before noon Saturday in the 8600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, in the Chatham neighborhood.

The girl, later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Eddimar Paola Hernández, was seen on surveillance video walking hand-in-hand with her older sister just moments before the stabbing happened. Police say Gayden approached Hernández and stabbed her multiple times in the back with a sharp object.

Hernández, whose family says was a cheerful and fun little girl who loved to sing and had big dreams, was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she later died.

Witnesses and police sources say the attack appeared to be random and that Hernández and Gayden did not know each other. Gayden was seen on video calmly walking away after the incident.

William Smith was inside his barbershop when he saw the commotion outside.

“I noticed there was a little girl laying on the ground. There were people standing over her,” Smith said. “I heard a young lady, or somebody, say, ‘That’s the lady. She did it. She’s running.’”

According to witnesses, two men, including one holding jumper cables or a similar object, ran after Gayden.

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

Smith said that’s when he flagged down a police officer.

Gayden was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later charged with first-degree murder.

Other witnesses say they’re devastated for Hernández and her family.

“We’re supposed to protect these babies, not kill them,” Candie, a witness who wanted to remain anonymous, said. “That poor, precious baby. Chicago, wake up! These are innocent babies.”

This wasn’t the first time Gayden attacked someone in the city. Her history of arrests and cases in Chicago spans at least a decade.

According to court records, at the time of Saturday’s fatal stabbing, Gayden had an active felony warrant out for her arrest that was issued in 2025 after she failed to show up for a court proceeding in a previous case.

In 2023, Gayden threatened and attacked a CTA bus driver. Court records say she later pleaded guilty to that charge, for which she received two years’ probation.

Court records show Gayden then violated that probation for assaulting two workers at a shelter. She was sentenced to court supervision in that case.

Mayor Brandon Johnson commented on the incident during an event Sunday, calling the attack a tragedy and saying the city will continue working to reduce violence,

“All acts of violence, we are working hard to eliminate,” Johnson said. “Any time a tragedy happens to a young person, it’s that much more egregious. We are going to continue to pray for the families, but I think it’s all of our responsibility to ensure that we are providing as much support as we possibly can during these difficult times.

“I’m going to use my power and my authority to continue to drive violence down in the City of Chicago, but we won’t be satisfied until all of our communities are completely safe.”

https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/young-girl-stabbed-to-death-on-chicagos-south-side/


Crazy witch in and (mostly) out o jail for being GD crazy as batspit, and basshole Brandon is going to "continue to work".

Sure chowderhead, sure you are.