Sheridan Gorman’s alleged illegal immigrant killer caught with weapon while in jail custody, police say

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A illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged in the March killing of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman was caught with a weapon while in custody, police said.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said Cook County Jail staff found a 6-inch shank in Jose Medina’s possession around 8 a.m. Thursday.

Correctional officers searched the 26-year-old and recovered a sharpened piece of metal with a handle fashioned out of medical tape from his pants pocket, the sheriff’s office said.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved a new felony charge of possession of contraband in a penal institution against Medina on Friday.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF KILLING CHICAGO COLLEGE STUDENT TO FACE COURT AFTER TUBERCULOSIS DELAY

A split photo of a skank and Jose Medina

Medina has been in custody since March 23. He is charged with shooting 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman to death at Tobey Prinz Beach in Rogers Park on March 19.

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Medina has pleaded not guilty to charges in Gorman’s killing. His next court date is June 1.

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Sheridan Gorman standing and smiling in Chicago, Illinois

Gorman was with friends at a Rogers Park pier when she looked around a lighthouse and saw Medina nearby.

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She walked back toward her friends and mouthed, “There’s a man behind the lighthouse,” prosecutors said. Medina then allegedly began chasing them.

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As Gorman and her friends ran away, Medina shot her in the upper back, according to prosecutors. Her friends kept running until they found a place to hide. When they returned to check on Gorman, she was unresponsive.

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An arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital states that Medina was seen on video after the shooting in the lobby of his apartment building, waiting for an elevator without a mask. A building engineer told police he recognized the suspect, who had a “very distinct limp and gait.”

Fox News Digital previously reported that Medina was apprehended at the southern border in 2023, flagged as a flight risk and determined to have no valid asylum claim before being released into the U.S. that year under the Biden administration.

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Records indicate he did not have a valid U.S. address or identification and could not provide a verifiable point of contact.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.

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