A woman accused of fatally stabbing a 7-year-old girl was repeatedly failed by the state’s mental health systems, according to her public defender, who argued this weekend’s tragedy “could have been avoided.”
Shavon Gayden, 48, was set to appear at an initial court hearing Wednesday, but it was rescheduled for a second time because she remained hospitalized.
Gayden had a history of committing seemingly random acts of violence — once attacking a CTA bus driver and another time a shelter worker — before she was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Eddimar Hernández-Chacón on Saturday.
Gayden’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Brett Balmer, told reporters Wednesday that Gayden had repeatedly been hospitalized for psychiatric issues and “never got the help she needed.”
“Shavon Gayden did not slip through the cracks of a functional system,” Balmer said during a news conference at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
“Shavon Gayden walked right through the open door of a system that does not provide any mental health services [or] sustained treatment for people with psychiatric illness,” Balmer added. “This all could have been avoided.”
Just before noon Saturday, Gayden approached Eddimar and her 17-year-old sister in the 8600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue and started stabbing the younger girl with a knife, according to police and prosecutors.
The fatal attack was “unprovoked,” according to an initial police report obtained by the Sun-Times.
As Gayden walked away, a group ran after her and at least one person struck her, prosecutors said. She suffered an injury to her left temple and had arterial bleeding.
Gayden was originally scheduled to appear for a detention hearing Monday but has remained hospitalized. Her detention hearing is now set for Friday morning.
Balmer said Gayden will soon be moved to the Cook County Jail, but she insisted there are “mental health issues that need to be addressed.”
In court Wednesday, Balmer requested a psychiatric evaluation before Gayden’s next hearing, telling Judge John Hock, “It will be an issue on Friday”
“I have seen her; I am concerned about her mental status at this time,” Balmer said in court. Hock asked that they wait until Friday to discuss the issue. Balmer also requested access to medical records from up to 10 hospitals where she believes Gayden sought mental health treatment.
Gayden does not need to be proven “mentally fit” to appear for a detention hearing Friday but will need to be physically present, according to Balmer.
After court, Balmer repeated an apology Gayden’s mother made to Eddimar’s family, saying she was devastated this happened.
Gayden’s mother said if her daughter received the help “she tried to get for her, that this wouldn’t happen,” according to Balmer.
“We need to do something in our city because this mental health issue is not going away,” Balmer added.
Eddimar’s uncle launched a GoFundMe campaign which has raised $16,000 as of Wednesday morning. All the money will go towards funeral costs and providing Eddimar a “dignified farewell,” her uncle wrote in Spanish.
“To our family, Eddimar will always be a very special girl,” he wrote. “Her passing leaves an indescribable void and immense pain for all of us who loved her.”
