Man charged in killing of Loyola student faces new federal gun charge

Sam Charles and Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune on Apr 2, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CHICAGO — A Venezuelan migrant charged in state court with the slaying of Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman in the Rogers Park neighborhood last month is now facing a federal weapon charge.

José Medina-Medina, 25, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S District Court with unlawful possession of a weapon by a person illegally in the U.S., which carries up to 10 years in federal prison.

The charge is essentially a backup should the murder case fall apart.

In a written statement, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said “given the senseless, cold-blooded nature” of Gorman’s slaying, his office “will take no chances that this illegal alien perpetrator will be released back into our community.”

Medina-Medina remains in state custody in Cook County Jail after being denied bond on the murder charges, and a court date on the federal case was not yet scheduled.

Cook County prosecutors alleged Medina-Medina fatally shot Gorman, 18, while she was with friends at a pier around Tobey Prinz Beach Park in Rogers Park around 1 a.m. on March 19. Investigators tracked Medina-Medina to the home he shares with his mother by using surveillance video. Police later executed a search warrant at the home and recovered a .40-caliber gun wrapped in a ski mask, prosecutors alleged.

The federal complaint filed Thursday alleged that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives performed preliminary testing showing the gun matched a .40-caliber bullet casing found at the scene of Gorman’s killing.

The shooting made international news when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it had lodged a detainer request asking Illinois officials not to release Medina-Medina, who, according to the agency, was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on May 9, 2023, and “released into the country” under the administration of President Joe Biden.

The defendant’s public defender, Julie Koehler, said after a bond hearing last week that Medina-Medina had asked to be returned to Colombia, where he had been living, but instead was “placed on a bus and sent to Chicago.”

_____