By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-04 17:21:45 | Updated at 2026-10-04 19:16:04
3 hours ago
Authorities are trying to determine what prompted an apparent stranger to allegedly stab to death a seven-year-old girl on a Chicago sidewalk on Saturday.
The alleged assailant, reportedly a 48-year-old woman whose name so far has not been released by police, was chased down by bystanders after she stabbed the little girl in back multiple times, the Chicago NBC affiliate Channel 5 reported.
The victim has been identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner as Edi Mari Hernandez Chacon, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital after the attack.
The incident occurred just before noon Saturday on South Cottage Grove Avenue in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood, a community with an elevated crime rate on the city’s troubled south side.
In video obtained by several Chicago outlets, a witnesses could be seen rushing over to what is assumed to be the area where the young girl was attacked and another dropping a set of jumper cables and going after the woman.
The victim was walking hand-in-hand with another woman at the time of the attack, the city’s ABC affiliated reported.
The alleged assailant is seen calmly walking away from the scene, her face blurred because as of Sunday morning she has not been charged yet.
Apparently the alleged attacker was injured when she was detained by bystanders who then summoned the police as she was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and remains in police custody, according to news outlet.
It is not the first time the alleged assailant has attacked someone, according to he city’s CBS affiliate WGN 9. That station in its on air coverage reported she attacked a transit worker in 2023 and pled guilty in that case.
Detectives have yet to reveal to news outlets whether they have discovered a motive for the attack. The New York Post reported the attacker appeared to be was a “stranger” with no connection to the victim.
The seemingly senseless homicide now joins the death toll for a city that has logged the highest number of murders in the nation for 13 straight years, currently at more than 320 for 2026. However, other cities have higher per capita homicide rates.
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“I am deeply saddened by the senseless stabbing of a seven-year-old child in our neighborhood,” Alderwoman Michelle Harris said in a statement released to news outlets hours after the girl was killed. “My heart goes out to her family, friends, and everyone who is affected by this horrific incident. No child should ever have to experience violence or fear while simply walking down the sidewalk.”
The alderwoman added that she wanted to “recognize and thank the bystanders who quickly intervened—helping to detain the suspect and get assistance on the way. Their quick actions may have prevented further harm.”
More information from police and prosecutors on the case is expected.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
