Police say woman fatally stabbed 7-year-old girl walking in Chicago
Oct 4, 2026, 3:42 PM
CHICAGO (AP) — A 7-year-old girl was fatally stabbed while walking in front of businesses in a Chicago neighborhood, and people nearby detained the woman who attacked her, police said.
Chicago police said the girl was walking in the Chatham neighborhood late Saturday morning when a woman carrying an unspecified sharp object approached her and stabbed her multiple times in the back. Television networks showed a commercial strip lined with a restaurant, nail salon and market cordoned off by red police tape afterward.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child as Edi Mari Hernandez Chacon. She died at a hospital.
A security photo from a nearby business showed the girl that witnesses identified had been walking hand-in-hand with an older female on the sidewalk, WLS-TV reported. Police did not share any information about that person.
The alleged attacker was taken to the hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening and was arrested, Chicago police said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear if there was any relationship between the attacker and the girl. Police have not commented on a possible motive for the stabbing and declined Sunday to provide further details or identify the suspect.
