A suspect in the murder of an 18-year-old student in Chicago had apparently been released from border and police custody after entering the U.S. illegally.
Jose Medina, 25, of Chicago was arrested on Friday night in connection with the shooting of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman and is facing charges that include first-degree murder.
According to a Department of Homeland Security release, Medina, originally from Venezuela, illegally entered the U.S. in 2023.
On Thursday, Gorman was walking with her friends at Tobey Prinz Beach around 1:30 a.m., which is less than a mile from Loyola. A man allegedly walked up to the group, pulled out a gun, and began firing at them.
Gorman was shot in the head and died at the scene. No one else in the group was injured.
She was only a few months away from finishing her first year of college, according to ABC 7. Chicago police do not believe that she was the intended target of the attack.
“Sheridan was our daughter, our sister, and the heart of our family. She was full of life, full of kindness, and full of a love that she gave freely to everyone around her,” her family said in a statement. “She made people feel seen. She made people feel valued. Whether it was her friends, her family, or someone she had just met, Sheridan had a way of leaving people better than she found them.”
Loyola University’s president offered his condolences to Gorman’s family.
“This is a tragic loss, and our hearts go out to Sheridan’s family, loved ones, and all who knew her.” he said.
When Medina entered the country in 2023, he was arrested and released, according to the DHS. He was arrested again later on shoplifting charges but allegedly skipped out on his trial, which resulted in police obtaining a warrant for his arrest.
On Monday, President Donald Trump was asked about the murder. In addition to his controversial anti-immigration policies, he has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that Venezuela emptied its prisons and “insane asylums” and sent their inmates to invade the U.S.
“It’s devastating. These people were let in by [former President Joe] Biden. We’re getting them out. We’re getting them out fast. That’s why ICE is so important. They’re doing such a good job. This, this animal … came in through Joe Biden, with his open door policy and his border czar Kamala, who never saw the border, never made one phone call,” Trump said.
“All the ICE people, you see, they all know me. Everyone knows me. They like me. I speak to them all the time. [Harris] didn’t make one phone call during four years [that] she was the border czar,” Trump said. “This person [Medina] came in through the open door policy of Joe Biden and we have others. We’re taking them out by the tens of thousands. We’re doing a great job, but it’s a shame they’ve hurt our country.”
In 2024, Trump tried to prime the American public for his coming immigration crackdowns and ICE raids by insisting that Venezuela had sent all of its most violent and dangerous criminals to cross the U.S. border.
“In Venezuela, their crime rate went down 72 percent. You know why? Because they took the criminals out of Caracas, and they put them along your border. And they said, ‘if you ever come back, we’re going to kill you,’” Trump said in 2024.
