The household of Sheridan Gorman is pushing again on feedback from Chicago and Illinois leaders, saying her killing was not a “mindless tragedy” and demanding accountability for what they name systemic failures.
18-year-old Gorman was killed on March 19 at round 1:06 a.m. whereas she was with mates at a pier on the town’s Rogers Park space. Officers say that Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an unlawful immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly fired one shot on the Loyola College Chicago pupil, killing her.
Medina-Medina was apprehended by the US Border Patrol on Could 9, 2023, and was launched into the US beneath the Biden administration, in response to the Division of Homeland Safety.
The Gorman household on Wednesday launched a press release criticizing each Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, saying that her dying “calls for accountability.”
“What occurred to Sheridan can’t be diminished to a ‘mindless tragedy,’ nor can it’s defined basically phrases about public security. Sheridan was our daughter. She was 18 years outdated. She was doing one thing fully regular — strolling close to her campus with mates. She must be right here,” the Gorman household mentioned concerning latest feedback by Johnson.
“Calling this ‘mindless’ shouldn’t be sufficient. There should be a transparent and sincere accounting of what went mistaken,” the household added. “We is not going to enable Sheridan’s life to be diminished to a speaking level or a generalization. We count on management that’s keen to confront arduous truths and be sure that what occurred to her doesn’t occur once more.”
Gorman’s household additionally responded to Gov. Pritzker’s latest feedback on the freshman school pupil’s dying, writing that “calling this a tragedy shouldn’t be sufficient.”
“Sheridan’s dying can’t be diminished to a common “tragedy,” nor can it’s defined away by broad references to failures someplace else. Sheridan was a daughter, a sister, and a younger lady whose life was taken in a method that ought to by no means have been potential,” the household mentioned.
DHS
“We aren’t occupied with political arguments or in watching accountability shift from one place to a different. If there have been failures — because the Governor himself has acknowledged — then each one in every of them should be recognized, examined, and addressed instantly. The placement of these failures issues lower than the willingness to confront them truthfully.”
“Our daughter shouldn’t be a coverage debate. She is a life that was taken, and that calls for accountability,” they added.
Pritzker on Tuesday shifted blame to the Trump administration throughout an occasion, in response to the Chicago Tribune.
“This has been a horrible tragedy, and I do know that the Gorman household has suffered mightily… There have been actual failures. These failures, in fact, lengthen past the borders of Illinois. That’s their nationwide failures, a failure to have complete immigration reform, a failure of the president to observe his personal edict to go after the worst of the worst,” Pritzker mentioned.
Johnson on Tuesday additionally addressed Gorman’s dying, saying that her life was taken because of “mindless violence,” however known as out President Trump as effectively.
“There’s no phrases that one may specific that would correctly console a household that misplaced their child. And my condolences to the Gorman household,” Johnson mentioned. “You understand what the larger risk to our public security, it’s unlawful weapons which might be being trafficked from bordering states that voted for Donald Trump. This president refuses to be held accountable. And he factors the finger at all the things and everybody else versus doing a little actual self-reflection on what his accountability is.”
“We all know that this president has not taken this example on this problem in our nation severely, as a result of my query can be, isn’t it time for the president of america of America in Congress to truly act and cross complete immigration reform?” Johnson continued.
“There’s no phrases that one may specific that would correctly console a household that misplaced their child. And my condolences to the Gorman household,” Johnson mentioned.
In a press release to Fox Information Digital, White Home Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson mentioned President Donald Trump’s immigration insurance policies have saved Individuals protected.
“In report time, President Trump has completely secured the border, ended Biden’s border disaster, and deported numerous harmful felony unlawful aliens. These are actual options that hold the American folks protected. In the meantime, slobs like Pritzker have consistently defended harmful felony unlawful aliens and tried to hinder the vital work of the Trump Administration. Pritzker’s insurance policies make the American folks much less protected,” Jackson mentioned.
Houses in Yorktown Heights, New York, Gorman’s hometown, had been lit up in inexperienced on Tuesday evening to honor the slain Chicago school pupil. in response to CBS Information.
An arrest report obtained by obtained by Fox Information Digital reveals that Medina-Medina was seen on safety video in his condominium constructing’s foyer ready for an elevator whereas unmasked after the alleged capturing. A constructing engineer instructed police that he knew the suspect, who had a “very distinct limp and gait.”
Police mentioned Medina-Medina was sporting a black masks and black clothes as he walked away from the capturing, noting that he had a “distinct limp and gradual gait.” He was seen strolling from the placement of the capturing to Pratt Boulevard at 1:12 a.m. Only a few minutes later, the person was seen strolling northbound via the east alley of Sheridan Highway earlier than he entered the again of his condominium complicated.
Photos of the suspect had been despatched to a police database, and US Customs and Border Safety recognized the suspect as Medina-Medina. He was arrested at his condominium in Rogers Park, in response to the arrest report.
Medina-Medina instructed officers in 2023 that he was dwelling at Leone Seashore Park fieldhouse in Rogers Park in 2023, which was getting used as a city-sponsored shelter for migrants. The shelter closed in 2024, in response to South Facet Weekly.
