Mental health system failed woman accused of fatally stabbing 7-year-old girl, lawyer says

Public defender: 7 year old girl's stabbing death could have been prevented

Cook County prosecutors said on Wednesday that 48-year-old Shavon Gayden had threatened workers in a nearby cell phone store before storming into the street and attacking the younger girl.

Mental health system failed woman accused of fatally stabbing 7-year-old girl, lawyer says

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 the 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…