Immigration Debate Erupts After Venezuelan Migrant Charged With Murdering Chicago Student
An 18-year-old college student Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed early last Thursday morning near a Chicago lakefront pier — in what prosecutors describe as a sudden and unprovoked attack by an undocumented migrant. The suspect is Jose G. Medina, a Venezuelan migrant who DHS says entered the United States illegally in 2023.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The case has become part of a broader political fight over immigration policy and enforcement.
President Trump blamed Democratic policies, arguing the suspect should not have been in the country.
Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, have called for changes to Illinois’ sanctuary policies and criminal justice laws.
Democratic Governor J. B. Pritzker responded that there were “real failures,” but said those failures extend beyond Illinois and reflect broader national issues with immigration policy.
A progressive Democratic Chicago lawmaker issued an apology after facing backlash for suggesting the college student was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” and may have “startled” the gunman.
WHAT HAPPENED
Early Thursday morning, March 19, Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student, was shot and killed while walking with friends from her dorm near Tobey Prinz Beach in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. A family attorney says the friends wanted to see the Northern Lights.
As the group walked to the end of the pier, someone came out from behind a lighthouse and shot her in the back, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said in court Monday that security video from around the neighborhood tracked a suspect to his home, where officers found a handgun with bullets matching the one used in the shooting. The suspect was identified by as Jose G. Medina.
THE ACCUSED KILLER
Medina, 25, is in the United States illegally from Venezuela, according to federal officials. He was caught by Border Patrol in 2023, but then released inside the U.S. He also had an outstanding warrant after failing to appear in court on a separate 2023 misdemeanor shoplifting charge. Medina is now facing first degree murder and weapon charges.
Medina was expected to appear in court Monday but did not attend after being hospitalized. Court officials later said he was being treated for tuberculosis, and a detention hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
“SENSELESS VIOLENCE?”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the killing of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman “senseless violence.”
Her family released a statement in response:
“...What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to a “senseless tragedy,”...This was not random. It was not inevitable. And it cannot be treated as though it were…We will not allow Sheridan’s life to be reduced to a talking point or a generalization. We expect leadership that is willing to confront hard truths and ensure that what happened to her does not happen again.”