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An illegal Venezuelan migrant who entered the US under the Biden administration was charged with murdering a Loyola University Chicago freshman from New York during a walk at the Windy City’s lakefront Thursday morning.
Jose Medina, 25, allegedly gunned down 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman while she was strolling along the pier at Chicago’s Tobey Prinz Beach on Thursday morning.
He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault/discharge of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a news release from the Chicago Police Department.
Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, so the harshest punishment Medina can face is life in prison with no parole.
Medina allegedly approached Gorman and her friends while wearing a mask around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, cops said. He allegedly shot her in the head while she was attempting to flee before he hid in a nearby apartment building.
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.
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