Venezuelan Man Charged With Murder of Loyola Student Sheridan Gorman

Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago freshman, was shot in the head and killed in the early morning hours while walking with friends along the lakefront near the Rogers Park campus, Chicago police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jose Medina, 25, also identified in some reports as Jose Medina-Medina, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Chicago police announced the charges Sunday evening. Medina lives on the 6800 block of North Sheridan Road, within the same Rogers Park neighborhood where the shooting occurred.

The group had gone to the lakefront to view the Northern Lights when a masked man approached and opened fire, according to Chicago police and a Loyola campus safety alert. No other injuries were reported. Records cited by the Chicago Tribune indicate investigators identified Medina as a suspect within minutes of the shooting because of his distinct limp. He was arrested Friday night.

Gorman was from Westchester County, New York. Loyola University President Mark C. Reed confirmed her death in a letter to students.

The Department of Homeland Security said Medina is a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally and was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, before being released. ICE lodged an arrest detainer asking Illinois officials not to release Medina following his arrest in connection with the shooting. Cook County court records, cited by the Chicago Tribune, show Medina also faced a misdemeanor shoplifting charge from a Macy's on State Street in June 2023. A warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court, and that warrant remained outstanding as of September 2023.

Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis of DHS did not hold back in assigning political blame. "Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life," Bis said. "She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who RELEASED this illegal alien TWICE before he went on to commit this heinous murder. We are calling on Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago's sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods."

Some outlets, citing ICE, reported that Medina entered the country illegally twice and was released a second time in June 2023 following the shoplifting arrest. The Chicago Tribune noted that DHS did not immediately respond to a question about whether ICE filed a detainer in connection with that earlier arrest.

Chicago Ald. Maria Hadden, whose 49th Ward covers Rogers Park, said she had been in contact with investigators and described the shooting as appearing to be a case of Gorman being "at the wrong place at the wrong time."

A detention hearing was scheduled for Monday. In December 2024, Cook County prosecutors announced a policy of seeking pretrial detention in all first-degree murder cases, a standard that would apply to Medina's case.

Safety concerns mounted across the Loyola University community in the days following Gorman's death, with the campus mourning a student who had barely begun her college career.