18-Year-Old Chicago Shooting Victim Warned Friends Moments Before Being Killed By Illegal Immigrant, Parents Say

The parents of an 18-year-old college student who was fatally shot by an undocumented immigrant said her quick warning to friends to run likely saved their lives.

Jessica and Thomas Gorman recounted the horrifying incident that killed their daughter, Sheridan Gorman, on March 19.

At about 1:30 a.m., Sheridan was walking with friends along Lake Michigan, hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. They were roughly a block and a half from Loyola University in Chicago when she spotted a masked gunman at the end of a pier.

“He, like, moved towards her threateningly,” Jessica told CBS News. “She turned around and she warned her friends that there was a man with a gun and you need to run. And they ran.”

Sheridan managed to run about 40 feet before she was shot in the back and neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and Chicago Police said the incident appeared to be random.

“She was a really amazing person, I actually grieve not only the people she touched in this life, but the people she won’t touch,” Jessica said. “No one should have to deal with the police coming to your door at 6 a.m., falling to your knees when you hear the news that no parent should ever hear.”

Authorities described the killing as a “senseless tragedy.” But Jessica said, “It wasn’t. It was a murder. It was a preventable murder.”

The masked gunman charged in the killing was identified as 26-year-old Venezuelan national Jose Medina-Medina. The Department of Homeland Security said Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in May 2023 and “released into the country under the Biden administration.”

He was later released again on June 19, 2023, following an arrest for shoplifting in Chicago. “Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “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.”

Medina-Medina’s defense has pointed to past trauma and alleged cognitive impairment.

His lawyer and public defender, Julie Koehler, claimed that in 2018 her client was robbed at gunpoint in Colombia and shot in the head. “He survived but lost a portion of his brain and his skull, leaving him with the mental capacity of a child,” she said.

The victim’s parents reacted strongly to the claim. “He had the mental capacity and the wherewithal to buy a gun, to have a mask on, and to be waiting,” Jessica said. “The mask was on, and he had a gun pointed at my daughter when she passed him.”

“A child does not do that,” Thomas added.

The case has also drawn national political reactions.

President Donald Trump reacted strongly to the incident in March, criticizing the Biden administration.

“This person came in through the open door policy of [former President] Joe Biden and we have others,” Trump said. “We’re taking them out by the tens of thousands. We’re doing a great job, but it’s a shame,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said violent crime has “no place in our streets.”

“We expect the alleged perpetrator to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Pritzker said in a statement. “The Trump Administration needs to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.”