New Details Emerge In Loyola University Freshman Sheridan Gorman's Slaying

CHICAGO—New details emerged in the slaying of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman, who was shot on a beach near Loyola’s Lake Shore campus earlier this month. Jose Medina, 25, appeared Friday via Zoom before Cook County Judge D’Anthony Thedford on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a firearm.

Gorman, 18, and four friends had been hanging out in their dormitory when they decided to go outside after midnight on March 19. According to officials, the group took photos outside their dormitory building and then made their way to Tobey Prinz Beach Park. 1045 W. Pratt near the Loyola campus to take pictures of the Chicago skyline

Two of their group split off to find a restroom as Gorman and her other friends walked toward the long pier with a lighthouse at the end of it, according to prosecutors. Gorman was ahead of the group as they walked down the pier. Unbeknownst to the students, the prosecutor said Medina, who lived steps away from the park, had already walked to the end of the pier, where he hid behind the lighthouse.

Gorman had reached the end of the pier ahead of her friends. No one saw anyone else on the pier at that moment, according to officials. The prosecutor said when Gorman looked around to the other side of the lighthouse, she was startled to see a man, later identified as Medina, standing there. She walked a few steps to her friends and whispered to them that there was a man behind the lighthouse.

Medina is alleged to have jumped out from behind the lighthouse, clad in all black, including a black mask. The prosecutor said that two of Gorman’s friends saw that Medina was holding a gun in his hand. All four students, including Gorman, started to run away from Medina back toward the beach. As they did so, the prosecutor said that Medina fired his gun, hitting Gorman in the upper back.

The friends said they saw Gorman fall to the ground but continued running for their lives. After the friends managed to make it back to the beach, two hid in a grassy area, while another hid behind a concrete pillar. Gorman’s friends separately called 911 to report the shooting. As they all hid, the prosecutor said one of the group watched as Medina slowly paced back and forth on the pier.

When Medina no longer appeared to be on the pier, the prosecutor said Gorman’s friends ran back to check on her. She was found a few feet from the lighthouse, bleeding and unresponsive. The friends called 911 again and hid behind the lighthouse, waiting for Chicago police.

When police and emergency services arrived, they found the two friends hiding. Gorman was unconscious on the pier. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to her left upper back that exited out her neck. The prosecutor said evidence technicians recovered one spent .40 caliber cartridge casing on the pier near the lighthouse.

While there is no surveillance video of the actual shooting on the beach, the prosecutor said private surveillance video captured the sound of a single gunshot at 1:06 a.m.

Officers canvassed the area for surveillance videos and recovered footage from Medina’s apartment building in the 6800 block of North Sheridan Road, where he is said to live with his mother. The prosecutor said footage from the apartment building captured Medina leaving before the shooting, walking with a limp, and wearing a black ski mask as well as other dark clothing. Footage was also obtained of Medina returning to his apartment after the murder, in which the prosecutor said Medina was no longer wearing a mask.

While officers were reviewing the footage at the apartment building, the prosecutor said a neighbor recognized Medina and told police that he and his mother lived in the building. Police submitted still images of Medina through facial recognition software. The prosecutor said the software returned a possible match that identified Medina by name. Police were also able to obtain a copy of his mother’s lease agreement, which showed her living in the unit since June 2024.

Detectives recovered surveillance video from various nearby properties, which the prosecutor said tracked Medina leaving his building and walking east on Farwell Avenue, which the prosecutor said leads directly to the beach and park, approximately 20 minutes before the fatal shooting.

Other surveillance videos also reportedly captured Medina’s movements from the beach path back to his apartment building after the shooting of a man walking with a limp before heading into the alley off Sheridan Road around 1:13 a.m. The prosecutor said Medina was still wearing the ski mask in these videos, and the streets were largely deserted at the time.

From Medina’s apartment building, the prosecutor said that exterior surveillance video captured an individual emerging from the alley and walking toward the building. Medina was captured on video less than a moment later entering the apartment building and getting on the elevator. By then, the prosecutor said Medina had removed his ski mask and gloves, giving a clear look at his face.

Chicago police executed a search warrant for Medina’s apartment. When they entered, the prosecutor said that Medina was present and placed into custody. Police found a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun in a cabinet near his bed wrapped in a black ski mask, according to the criminal complaint.

Also recovered was clothing consistent with what Medina was wearing in the surveillance videos before and after the shooting, the prosecutor said, including a dark jacket, hooded sweatshirt, black pants, black gloves and black and white Nike shoes. Police also are said to have found a knee brace, pieces of mail addressed to Medina, and a pair of cellphones in his apartment.

Preliminary ballistics testing of the recovered fired cartridge casing and the gun recovered in the Medina’s home revealed a match between the gun and casing, the prosecutor said.

Medina’s mother also spoke to detectives and told them that she heard her son leaving their apartment sometime during the night, the prosecutor said. She allegedly identified her son from surveillance images from before and after the shooting. The prosecutor said Medina’s mother informed police that her son’s limp was a result of a gunshot wound he suffered years earlier.

During an interview with police at the 24th District police station, the prosecutor said Medina admitted to owning the handgun despite not having a FOID or CCL. Officials say he denied being outside the apartment at the time of the shooting, but did identify himself in surveillance stills that captured him before and after the murder.

The assistant public defender told Judge Thedford that Medina had an active arrest warrant at the time of the shooting, stemming from a failure to appear in court for a misdemeanor retail theft. In that matter, Medina was released from the police station but failed to appear at his initial court date in July 2023. Medina also apparently failed to show up for court a second time in August 2023, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Judge Thedford ordered that Medina remain detained while awaiting trial. The judge told Medina that the “randomness” of the shooting deemed him a significant threat to the community, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“It is difficult to imagine a greater threat than someone who hides themself and then hides in a random place in a largely deserted beach with masks on waiting for their prey,” the judge said.

Medina, a Venezuelan national, appeared for his hearing on Zoom because he is said to have tuberculosis. The Westchester County, NY, student’s slaying has sparked a heated political debate on immigration. The 18-year-old Loyola student’s parents have demanded accountability.

Medina is due back in court April 15 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California.