A Venezuelan national has been detained in connection with the execution-style murder of an 18-year-old college student in Chicago, recent reports reveal.

Sheridan Gorman, a first-year student at Loyola University, was tragically killed while walking with friends near Lake Michigan around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. A man dressed in black reportedly emerged from the bushes and fatally shot her in the head. Authorities pronounced her dead at the scene.

Chicago Police Department sources informed Fox News that a Venezuelan migrant is in custody and is being questioned in connection with Gorman’s death.

The individual in question, a 25-year-old resident of Rogers Park, has not been charged and remains unnamed by the Chicago Tribune.

Police were able to identify the suspect due to his ‘distinct limp.’ Additionally, Cook County court records show he has a previous misdemeanor charge for shoplifting from a Macy’s store in June 2023.

Sheridan’s untimely death has left her family heartbroken. Her parents, Thomas and Jessica Gorman, traveled to Chicago on Thursday night to retrieve their daughter’s body.

‘Our beloved daughter, Sheridan, was taken from us this morning in Chicago,’ the family said in a statement. ‘There is no way to soften this – this was murder. Sheridan was the light of our lives. She made people feel seen, safe, and loved simply by being who she was.’

‘She lived her faith with kindness, compassion, and joy, and she loved her family and friends deeply. We trusted that she would be safe. That trust was broken. Someone made a deliberate choice that stole our daughter and forever changed our family.’

The college student is pictured with her mother Jessica Gorman. The mom posts frequently online about her love for her country, veterans, and protecting the American flag – and her daughter showed her love for God and her friends on her Instagram 

Sheridan Gorman (second right) is pictured smiling in happier times with her friends in Florida last summer. The young woman was murdered on the street in the senseless killing 

The family added that they are ‘demanding answers’ and won’t stop fighting until the person responsible for Sheridan’s death is brought to justice.

Just days before her death, the vivacious college student posted a series of photos of her enjoying St Patrick’s Day weekend with her friends in Chicago, with the caption: ‘Where’s my kiss?’

Earlier in March, she wrote a caption now tragic to look back on: ‘Warmer days ahead!’ while posing across the city with her friends. 

She often posted about her love for her friends and family, as well as her strong faith in God, with a Bible verse from Corinthians, ‘let all that you do be done in love,’ proudly in her social media description.  

Sheridan grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, an upper-middle-class suburb in Westchester County, and lived in a $1 million home with her parents until college. She went to Yorktown High School, a highly rated public school in the state.

Sheridan’s all-American mother, Jessica, posts frequently online about her love for her country, veterans, and protecting the American flag. 

She proudly announced in May 2025 that her daughter committed to Loyola, a private Jesuit university on the north side of Chicago.

‘So incredibly proud of our sassy yet so sweet Sheridan Grace!’ she wrote in a Facebook post accompanied by a picture of Sheridan surrounded with the college’s merchandise. 

Sheridan was killed on Thursday morning while she walking with her friends near Lake Michigan. She was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene (Pictured: Sheridan sits on her bed with Loyola Merch in May 2025, ahead of her first semester in the fall)

In March, the young woman wrote a caption now tragic to look back on: ‘Warmer days ahead!’ while posing across the city of Chicago with her friends

‘An absolutely HUGE thanks to all our friends and family for coming over and decking her bed out with all this beautiful maroon and gold merch and all your love and hugs.’

Nearly a year later, in the middle of her second semester, Sheridan was gunned down. Chicago police have said she likely wasn’t the intended target. 

Chicago Alderman Maria Hadden, who has been in touch with the police, said Gorman was unfortunately ‘at the wrong place at the wrong time’.

The seemingly random nature of Sheridan’s killing echoes other recent cases that have sparked national attention – including the murder of Laken Riley.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was attacked and killed while out for a morning jog on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on February 22, 2024.

Investigators said she was targeted by a man who attempted to sexually assault her. Ultimately, she was killed by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. 

A Venezuelan migrant has been arrested by the Chicago Police Department in connection with the killing of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old freshman at Loyola University

The seemingly random nature of Sheridan’s killing drew comparisons to the 2024 murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia

José Ibarra, a then-26-year-old Venezuelan migrant who entered the US illegally, was convicted of brutally murdering Riley in the woods as she was out for a jog. He was sentenced to life in prison

Riley’s case was very similar to what happened to Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student who was killed by an illegal migrant from Mexico in 2018

Her body was found later the same day in a wooded area after she failed to return home from her run.

The next day, police arrested José Ibarra, a then-26-year-old Venezuelan migrant who entered the US illegally.

In November 2024, Ibarra was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During the trial, prosecutors repeatedly focused on the level of brutality Ibarra was capable of.

‘He put huge holes in her head with a rock. And he did it more than once. And there could be no other reason to do that, other than to silence her forever,’ prosecutor Sheila Ross said.

Riley’s murder became a political flashpoint, with Republicans pointing out that Ibarra made it into the country in September 2022, while Joe Biden was president.

Nine days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, which tightened immigration enforcement by mandating the detention of illegal immigrants who have been arrested for crimes such as theft, burglary, shoplifting, or assault on law enforcement.

Ibarra had been arrested twice before he killed Riley: once in New York City for endangering a child and again in Georgia for shoplifting.

Riley’s case drew comparisons to the 2018 killing of Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student who was also killed while out on a run.

Her body was found weeks later, and Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a Mexican national living in the US illegally, was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.