Parents of Slain Loyola U. Chicago Student Demand Answers on Her ‘Preventable Murder’

“There’s nothing that prepares you for going to the medical examiner’s office and filling out the paperwork”

Posted by Mike LaChance Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 12:00pm 2 Comments

These people have every right to be outraged about what happened to their daughter. They are entitled to answers.

Parents of slain Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman demand answers on her “preventable murder”

The parents of an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago freshman who was fatally shot last month are speaking publicly for the first time, describing the death of their daughter, Sheridan Gorman, as “a preventable murder.” They are also demanding accountability for why the suspect, an undocumented immigrant, was in the United States and out on the street despite a previous arrest.

At around 1:30 a.m. on March 19, Sheridan Gorman was walking with friends along Lake Michigan, hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. The group was about a block and a half from Loyola’s campus when Chicago police say she encountered a masked gunman at the end of a pier.

“He, like, moved towards her threateningly,” Jessica Gorman, Sheridan’s mother, told CBS News, recounting what she’d learned of the events. “She turned around and she warned her friends that there was a man with a gun and you need to run. And they ran.”

Thomas Gorman, Sheridan’s father, said his daughter made it about 40 feet before she was shot in the back and neck. She died at the scene. Chicago police have said the shooting appeared random.

“She was a really amazing person, I actually grieve not only the people she touched in this life, but the people she won’t touch,” Jessica Gorman said. “… No one should have to deal with the police coming to your door at 6 a.m., falling to your knees when you hear the news that no parent should ever hear.”

“There’s nothing that prepares you for going to the medical examiner’s office and filling out the paperwork,” Thomas Gorman said. “Your hand is trembling. And then you have to go identify your daughter’s body. And they ask you if you’re ready, and nothing makes you ready for that.”