Parents of Slain Loyola Student Argue Shooter Is Competent for Trial, Slam Mental Capacity Defense

An 18-year-old Loyola University student was shot dead while walking with friends along Lake Michigan in hopes of catching a glimpse of the northern lights.

Sheridan Gorman was killed on March 19 after Venezuelan national Jose Medina-Medina allegedly opened fire at the end of a pier. She suffered gunshot wounds to her back and neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s parents, Jessica and Thomas Gorman, previously described the incident as a “preventable murder.”

In a recent interview with Fox News, the Gormans said they want immigration laws to be enforced strictly and argued that the safety of American citizens should take priority over protecting people who entered the country illegally and committed crimes.

Sheridan’s sister reflected on the devastating loss. “I don’t remember a time I lived without her. We spent every second together. I never imagined losing my sister so young. I hoped she would be my maid of honor one day.”

“We shouldn’t be sitting here right now,” Thomas said at the beginning of the interview. He added that the family is already living through the nightmare of waking up every day without their daughter, but they also fear a similar tragedy could happen to someone else.

“It’s an unbearable pain,” he said.

Speaking about appearing in court for the first time alongside the man accused of killing her daughter, Jessica said, “It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

“This devastating darkness has come over. When we went to the courthouse, before he came onto the stand, I was envisioning jumping over the bench and screaming out loud, ‘Why?’ I cannot watch the news anymore. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

Jessica added that she felt “anger and fury” in the courtroom.

Medina is scheduled to appear in court on June 1 amid claims that he may be unfit to stand trial because of alleged mental health issues.

“I saw him stand in the courtroom. He can stand,” Thomas said.

Jessica added, “They said he cannot understand English and has the mental capacity of a child. First of all, a child does not buy an illegal gun and stand at the end of a pier to kill someone.

“He was not even waiting for the translator to speak while addressing the judge. He understood before the translator was speaking.”

The Gormans argued that the accused had planned the attack and is capable of standing trial.

The accused, Jose Medina-Medina, who authorities identified as an undocumented immigrant, was allegedly apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2023 before later being released into the country.

While Medina-Medina’s attorneys argued that he had cognitive impairments and the “mental capacity of a child,” the Gorman family strongly rejected the defense’s claims.

“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, according to CBS News.