Chicago woman who stabbed 7-year-old girl to death in random attack has years-long rap sheet, repeated releases

A 48-year-old woman with a lengthy rap sheet and repeated releases has been charged with stabbing a 7-year-old to death while the little girl was walking on a sidewalk on Chicago's South Side. The woman was then knocked out by a bystander and then taken into police custody. 

7-year-old Eddimar Paola Hernandez was walking on the sidewalk when Shavon Gayden approached her and then stabbed her in the back multiple times, according to police and witnesses. A witness then knocked Gayden unconscious, and others called 911 while another flagged down a police vehicle.  

Hernandez was taken to a hospital for treatment, where she was pronounced dead. Gayden has been charged with first-degree murder. Surveillance footage showed the little girl walking with her older sister when the murder took place, per ABC 7. At a vigil that was held on Sunday evening for the little girl, Ald. Michelle Harris said that Gayden allegedly got into an altercation at a nearby store before she decided to kill the little girl. 

"You send your baby out. It's a beautiful Saturday morning and then they don't come back home," Harris added. 

Gayden has a lengthy and violent criminal history, where she was released time and time again back into the community to commit more crimes. She has a criminal history that dates back to 2016 and has been charged with the aggravated assault of a peace officer, firefighter or emergency worker. In November 2024, she was convicted of an attack on a CTA bus driver, but was only given two years of probation. Gayden failed to show up to court, and a warrant was issued for her arrest, but it is not clear if the warrant was ever executed. 

The following month, she was arrested for misdemeanor battery and assault and then pleaded guilty to those charges in July 2025. She had an active warrant out for her arrest when she was taken into custody after the stabbing.