Man accused of killing Loyola University student caught with a shank while in custody, officials say

A man accused of killing a Loyola University student was caught with a weapon while in custody at Cook County Jail, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Jose Medina, a 26-year-old Venezuelan immigrant, is facing first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges. He’s accused of shooting Sheridan Gorman in the early hours of March 19 while she was on the lakefront in Rogers Park near the Loyola campus.

Gorman and some friends were walking toward the end of the pier a little after midnight at Tobey Prinz Beach when they spotted Medina hiding in the shadows, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Medina allegedly jumped out wearing a mask and holding a gun. He allegedly fired once as the group tried to run away, striking Gorman in her back and killing her.

Medina has been in custody since March 23.

The Cook County sheriff’s office said jail staff found Medina in possession of a 6-inch shank around 8 a.m. Thursday. Correctional officers searched him and recovered a sharpened piece of metal with a handle fashioned out of medical tape from his pants pocket, they said Friday.

Medina pleaded not guilty to killing Gorman at a hearing last month.

Medina’s public defenders have said he has a developmental disability from an earlier gunshot wound to his head suffered during a robbery in Colombia. He’d made his way there after fleeing Venezuela.

Medina ended up in Chicago in 2023 after being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. Though he asked to be deported back to Colombia, officials in Texas bused him to Chicago, according to his public defenders.

When he was arrested in connection to Gorman’s killing, Medina had an active warrant for a 2023 shoplifting case. Federal prosecutors also have charged Medina with possessing a pistol while being unlawfully present in the United States. U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros said his office was taking “no chances” that Medina would be released.