Loyola student newspaper apologizes for calling Sheridan Gorman's murder suspect an ‘illegal immigrant’

The student newspaper at Loyola University Chicago is facing backlash after issuing an apology following the murder of an 18-year-old student, not to the victim’s family or the community, but for referring to the suspect as an “illegal immigrant.”

Jose Medina-Medina has been charged with the killing of freshman Sheridan Gorman. Authorities say Medina-Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly shot and killed the 18-year-old while she was with a group of friends at a nearby beach in the early hours of March 19.

The campus newspaper, The Phoenix, initially covered the case in an Instagram post titled “Immigrant Man Charged in Murder of Sheridan Gorman, DHS Involved.” The post described Medina-Medina as an "illegal immigrant." Later, the post was edited to remove the term and the outlet went on to refer to him as a “resident.”

In a lengthy public statement, the paper explained its decision to revise the language and remove the original post.

“On March 23, a post on The Phoenix’s Instagram page carried the following headline: ‘Immigrant Man Charged in Murder of Sheridan Gorman, DHS Involved.’ That headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members,” the paper wrote.

“Additionally, in the body of the original post, we described the man who was charged as an ‘illegal immigrant,’ using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper.”

The paper added, “No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Medina-Medina entered the United States illegally in 2023 under the Biden administration and was released. That same year, he was arrested for shoplifting and released from local custody in Illinois.

The shooting has been widely downplayed by local officials. Maria Hadden, a Chicago alderwoman, suggested in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago that Gorman may have been in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and that she may have “startled” the illegal immigrant suspect who killed her, though no evidence has been presented to support this claim. She later apologized.