POWERFUL: Sheridan Gorman’s Parents Speak to CBS About Their Daughter’s Murder

Curtis Houck
April 22nd, 2026 8:23 PM

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In heartbreaking detail, Sheridan Gorman’s parents spoke out for the first time on Wednesday’s CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News about the March 19 murder of their daughter on the shores of Lake Michigan while walking with her fellow Loyola University of Chicago students before they encountered an alleged gunman who was in the country illegally.

Speaking to chief correspondent Matt Gorman, they both mourned the life their daughter would no longer be able to lead and demanded changes to public policy, including for local and state law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents.

As we’ve documented at NewsBusters, the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC gave Gorman’s murder only three minutes and 43 seconds on their flagship morning and evening newscasts in March while CNN and MS NOW had yet to offer a dedicated, standalone news report on Gorman’s killing.

Gorman told CBS Mornings viewers Sheridan “was gunned down while on an early morning walk with her friends, just a few blocks from her dorm” and “[a]uthorities say the suspect who was lurking behind a lighthouse on a Lake Michigan pier was living in the country illegally.”

“Gorman’s parents, who are understandably so raw from the tragedy, described the level of heartbreak they did not know existed. They say when your child goes off to college, you worry about drugs, alcohol, maybe even tuition, but not this,” he continued.

Jessica Gorman emphasized she “grieve[s] not only for all of the people that she touched in this life, but the people she won’t touch” and “[n]o one should have to deal with the police coming to your door at 6:00 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...and then you have to go identify your daughter’s body...[N]othing makes you ready for that,” said Thomas Gorman.

Jessica’s tone went from mourning to one of righteous and understandable anger: “[People] say it was a senseless tragedy. It wasn’t. It was a murder. It was a preventable murder.”

Gutman divulged the criminal illegal alien’s likely legal defense, which is that he “lost a portion of his brain and skull after he was robbed and shot in the head in Columbia in 2018” and thus “had the mental capacity of a child.”

Jessica Gorman slammed this as a cop-out: “He had the mental capacity and the wherewithal to buy a gun, to have a mask on and to be waiting. The mask was on and he had a gun pointed at my daughter when she passed out.”

Thomas had his own take: “A child does not do that.”

Asked about “the policies that you think made this happen,” Thomas Gorman stated “there needs to be some cooperation between state, local government and — and federal officials” anytime “someone commits a crime and they’ve been here illegally[.]”

“[I]n our mind, he should have been handed over to the feds at that point,” he added.

Gutman said the family doesn’t “want their daughter’s death to be about politics,” but “they do want accountability.”

Jessica Gorman had the closing thought: “I don’t know what the longevity of this effort takes, but I will never rest. And yes, they’ve awakened a bear, they’ve awakened a big grizzly, mama bear. I’ve gotta fight for my child. I have to fight for yours. I have to turn this devastating darkness into light somehow.”

Gutman then discussed his sit-down with co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson. Of course, the latter two did not consider an entire side of the political aisle largely opposes allowing local and state law enforcement to alert federal immigration agencies when an illegal alien commits a crime, is jailed, or even released (click “expand”):

GUTMAN: And having met them and spent some time with them, I am sure they will turn it into light somehow. Now, Medina has not yet entered a plea and is set to be arraigned next week. He faces several charges, including first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He could face 20 years to life in prison, if convicted. But what Sheridan parents want more than anything is that no other family should ever have to experience this, guys.

KING: I — I love that they’re speaking, number one, my heart breaks for them.

GUTMAN: I know.

KING: But I love that they are calling it out. Don’t call this a sense — senseless tragedy —

BURLESON: Right.

KING: — that it was a murder that could have been prevented. And the way that they talk about the detail — you know, we hear about it in the movies. And we read about it identifying the body, filling out the paperwork.

GUTMAN: Yeah.

KING: But to know that you have to go through that, Matt, it’s just tough.

BURLESON: Yeah. When you have to bury your kid, that is one thing no parent wants to do.

KING: No.

BURLESON: But the word that keeps jumping out to me, it’s like you said, Gayle, that word preventable.

KING: Yes, yes.

BURLESON: That is the word that just breaks my heart.

GUTMAN: And nothing accounts for it.

KING: Yeah.

GUTMAN: And nothing will ever make that family better.

BURLESON: Ooof.

GUTMAN: They just hope to be able to prevent other people from ever experiencing that again.

KING: I’m in awe of them in the way that they’re speaking.

BURLESON: And their strength.

KING: That will make a difference.

An abridged version aired on the CBS Evening News with many of the same key moments, but there was one additional moment regarding the policy and politics.

In it, Jessica Gorman told Gutman that “I don’t care what side of the aisle politically people are on or you’re right in the middle like us” because, regardless, “[t]his can’t happen. You’ve got to make changes.”

Thomas agreed: “We should all be able to agree about the safety of our kids.”

Back live with anchor Tony Dokoupil, Gutman declared “[t]heir heartbreak is immeasurable” and while the illegal alien suspect “could face the rest of his life in prison if convicted,” the Gorman family faces “a long road ahead” because “[m]urder cases in Cook County can take four to six years to reach trial[.]”

For his part, Dokoupil thanked Gutman by telling him this was “a difficult but important story tonight.”

Since our first series of studies, NBC grew to one minute and 21 seconds with April 2’s Meet the Press becoming the only Sunday morning political talk show to cover Gorman’s death with 58 seconds from her hometown congressman, Mike Lawler (R-NY).

And with two Gorman interviews adding seven minutes and 33 seconds, CBS’s tally now stands at nine minutes and 34 seconds of coverage. Overall, the broadcast networks have now dedicated 12 minutes and 15 seconds on Gorman’s death.

As for CNN and MS NOW, they remain wholly uninterested.

To see the relevant CBS transcripts from April 22, click here (for CBS Mornings) and here (for the CBS Evening News).

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