A 25-year-old Venezuelan man, identified by federal authorities as being in the U.S. without legal status, was detained on Friday. He appeared remotely from a Cook County jail hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.
Jose Medina, who has bullet fragments in his brain from a previous shooting in South America and is unable to read or write, is charged with the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University freshman. The incident occurred while Gorman was walking with friends on a pier at Loyola Beach early on March 19.
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara, Gorman and five friends were at a dormitory before heading to the lakefront to enjoy the skyline view. Two friends left to find a restroom, while Gorman and the others continued to the pier, which extends into Lake Michigan and ends at a light beacon.
Gorman, slightly ahead of her group, was startled upon seeing a man standing at the structure. She quietly warned her friends about someone being behind the light beacon. At that moment, Medina allegedly appeared, dressed entirely in black and holding a handgun.
The group of students fled, but Medina fired a shot, hitting Gorman in the upper back and exiting through her neck.
As the students hid along the beach, two called 911 while watching Medina pace the pier. After he left, two friends returned to find Gorman unresponsive and bleeding. They called 911 again and hid behind the beacon until police arrived.
Gorman was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Investigators found a .40-caliber shell casing at the scene.
Surveillance footage from Medina’s apartment building on North Sheridan Road showed him leaving before the shooting, wearing a ski mask, gloves, a dark jacket, hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, and black Nike gym shoes with white soles. A witness familiar with Medina identified him in the footage.
Additional video showed his movements toward the lakefront before the shooting and back afterward, with a noticeable limp. Inside the building elevator, cameras captured him holding the ski mask and gloves, wearing the same attire, with his face uncovered.
Police executed a search warrant at Medina’s apartment, where they found and arrested him. Officers retrieved a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun from a cabinet near his bed, wrapped in a black ski mask. They also discovered clothing matching the surveillance footage.
Preliminary ballistics tests indicated a high-confidence match between the shell casing and the firearm found in the apartment.
Medina’s mother, who has leased the apartment since June 2024, informed investigators that her son’s limp resulted from a previous gunshot wound.
After being read his Miranda rights, Medina admitted owning the gun but denied leaving his apartment during the shooting. Prosecutors stated he identified himself in the surveillance images captured before and after the shooting.
Authorities reported no known connection between Medina and Gorman or her friends.
At the time of the shooting, Medina also had an active arrest warrant for a misdemeanor retail theft case from 2023, which he never attended in court.
Medina faces charges not only of first-degree murder but also of attempted first-degree murder involving a 19-year-old Loyola student accompanying Gorman, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Prosecutors noted he was not legally allowed to possess a firearm.
Judge D’Anthony Thedford approved the state’s request for detention.
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