Sangamon Digest

Shavon Gayden, 48, is charged with first-degree murder in Saturday’s fatal stabbing of 7-year-old Eddimar Paola Hernández Chacón in East Chatham, NBC Chicago reports. Prosecutors say the girl was walking hand in hand with her teenage sister when Gayden pulled a knife from her bag and lunged at the sister; when the teen ducked, Gayden stabbed the younger girl several times in the back. Witnesses detained Gayden at the scene.

Gayden missed Monday’s hearing because she remained hospitalized with injuries suffered while being detained; she was ordered held until a hearing Wednesday. She is also charged with violating probation from a 2023 aggravated battery conviction. Her mother told NBC Chicago her daughter needed help and offered condolences to the girl’s family.