The Department of Homeland Security on Monday asked Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago leaders to honor an immigration detainer for a Venezuelan man charged with fatally shooting a college student.
The DHS said it wants to take custody of Jose Medina-Medina, 25, who is accused of shooting Loyola University Chicago freshman Sheridan Gordon while she was on a predawn stroll with her friends on Thursday.
Police said Ms. Gordon, 18, died at the scene. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued its detainer request for Mr. Medina-Medina after Chicago police charged him Sunday.
Mr. Medina-Medina illegally entered the U.S. in 2023, officials say. He was arrested on a charge of shoplifting more than $100 of merchandise from a Macy’s in Chicago about a month after he crossed the border.
“Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life. She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who released this illegal alien twice before he went on to commit this heinous murder,” acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said.
“We are calling on Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods,” Ms. Bis added.
Illinois law forbids local authorities from transferring people into ICE custody without a federal warrant.
Mr. Medina-Medina faces murder, attempted murder and gun charges in the slaying that took place at about 1 a.m. Thursday.
Police said Ms. Gordon and her friends were walking near Tobey Prinz Beach when a masked assailant leapt out of the darkness and opened fire on the group.
The group scattered, but Ms. Gordon was shot in the head, police said. Investigators said she was not the intended target of the attack.
Ms. Gordon’s family released a statement saying she and her friends were out after dark to try to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. The shooting erupted close to Loyola’s campus in Rogers Park, which the family said they had thought was safe.
“What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the family said. “This is not an abstraction. This is the loss of a daughter. The loss of a sister. The loss of a future filled with milestones that will now never come. Our family is forever changed.”
A funeral for Ms. Gordon will be held in Yorktown, New York.
Mr. Medina-Medina was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Monday.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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