A tragic incident unfolded in Chicago as a Venezuelan migrant, who entered the United States during the Biden administration, was charged with the murder of a Loyola University Chicago freshman. The victim, an 18-year-old from New York named Sheridan Gorman, was fatally shot during a morning walk along the city’s lakefront.
Jose Medina, 25, is accused of shooting Gorman while she was strolling on the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach. The Chicago Police Department reported that Medina faces charges including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and possession of a weapon unlawfully.
Illinois, having abolished the death penalty in 2011, presents life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as the most severe penalty Medina could receive if convicted.
The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. when Medina, allegedly masked, approached Gorman and her friends. As she tried to escape, he reportedly shot her in the head before taking refuge in a nearby apartment building.
Medina’s entry into the United States was marked by his detention at the border in May 2023, after which he was released into the country, as stated in a Department of Homeland Security release acquired by Fox News.
Medina was originally detained at the border in May 2023, but was released into the US, according to a DHS release obtained by Fox News.
He was also arrested and released for shoplifting from Macy’s in Chicago that same year.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis condemned Chicago’s sanctuary city laws, which made way for Medina’s release.
“[Gorman] was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who released this illegal alien twice before he went on to commit this heinous murder,” Bis said in a statement.
“We are calling on Governor Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods,” she added.
The gunman’s motive is still unclear.
Gorman’s friends told the Chicago Sun-Times that the shooting “didn’t seem like it was intentionally targeted” towards them.
“It seemed like he was there for a reason, and we were just [in the] wrong place, wrong time. I’m guessing, because there was not another shot after that. It was just one,” one friend said.
Gorman’s family penned a heartbreaking tribute to their “proud Yorktown girl.”
“Sheridan was everyone’s cheerleader in every sense of the word. She had a way of making people feel seen, valued, and believed in,” her family wrote in an online obituary.
“She radiated something even greater—a rare and unmistakable warmth, a spirit that was vibrant, compassionate, and full of life. She was funny, kind, and deeply loving, with a heart that made space for everyone,” the obituary continued.
A private service for Gorman is set to be held on Saturday in Yorktown, while a community vigil is being planned for all those who knew her, the family has announced.
