Sheridan Gorman's suspected killer detained in Rogers Park ambush that stoked national immigration debate

In a case that has reignited a bitter national debate over immigration, and has even drawn the attention of President Donald Trump, a Venezuelan immigrant accused of killing a Loyola University Chicago freshman in Rogers Park made his first court appearance Friday.

Jose Medina, 25, is accused of hiding at the end of a pier near Tobey Prinz Beach and shooting 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in the back as she and her friends ran for cover on March 19. Medina appeared in court virtually Friday because he's being treated for tuberculosis in the Cook County Jail's medical unit.

In an unusual move, Medina's attorney asked Judge D'Anthony Thedford to hold Medina in the jail out of fear that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would act on a detainer issued after the shooting. "We fear if he's released, ICE will detain him and release him to a third country," said Medina's attorney, Cook County Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler.

Thedford ordered Medina detained, as Cook County prosecutors had also requested.

During the hearing, Koehler disclosed that Medina has a developmental disability stemming from an earlier gunshot wound he suffered to his head during a robbery in Colombia. Medina had made his way to Colombia after fleeing violence in Venezuela, Koehler said.

Medina had to relearn how to walk and talk, and has an indentation on the top of his head. He can't read or write, Koehler said.

Medina wound up in Chicago in 2023 after reaching the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and being detained there, Koehler said. Although he requested to be deported back to Colombia, officials in Texas bussed him to Chicago.

With no family here, Medina stayed in a migrant shelter and contracted tuberculosis that went undiagnosed, his attoreny said. His mother eventually joined him here, and he was staying with her at an apartment building a block from where Gorman was killed.

An ambush attack

In the hours before the shooting, Gorman and five friends had been hanging out at a dorm on campus, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Pekara said Friday.

A little after midnight, the group left to see the skyline, Pekara said. They took photos outside the dorm, then made their way to the lakefront and took more photos.

As two members of the group left to find a bathroom, Gorman and the others continued walking down the beach toward the pier, Pekara said. Gorman reached the end of the pier first and was startled to find Medina behind a structure, whispering that there was someone there, Pekara said.

Then, Medina jumped out wearing a black ski mask and holding a gun, Pekara said. The group started running away as Medina allegedly fired one round, striking Gorman in her upper back.

Gorman collapsed as the others "continued running for their lives," Pekara said. The others found shelter in the grass or behind a concrete barrier. They waited as Medina allegedly walked slowly back and forth on the pier. After Medina walked away, one of the friends ran back to find Gorman bleeding and unresponsive, Pekara said.

When authorities arrived, they found two of Gorman's friends hiding and a single shell casing at the end of the pier, Pekara said. Gorman was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Detectives eventually pinned the crime on Medina after analyzing video that led them to his apartment, Pekara said.

Video from the apartment building shows Medina left for the beach 20 minutes before the killing, Pekara said. The video allegedly shows him wearing a black ski mask and gloves, walking with a distinctive limp.

When police executed a search warrant on Medina's fourth-floor apartment, they found a gun wrapped in a ski mask near his bed and a leg brace with his name on it, Pekara said. Police also found clothes that match the ones seen in the video.

Medina was arrested during the search, Pekara said. He had an active warrant for an arrest in a 2023 shoplifting case. He is now charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm in Gorman's killing.

Medina's mother spoke with detectives and identified him in surveillance video, Pekara said. She said she remembered hearing him leave on the night of the shooting and noted that he walks with a limp from his gunshot injury.

Gorman's killing has triggered widespread outrage, especially among conservatives.

Trump said Gorman’s killing was “devastating” and placed blame on the “open door policy” of his predecessor, Joe Biden. Other Republicans have directed their anger at Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the sanctuary policies of the city and state.