Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - TEEN COLLEGE GIRL, SHERIDAN GORMAN SHOT DEAD: ILLEGAL VENEZUELAN SUSPECT

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

A 25-year-old Venezuelan man stands accused of fatally shooting Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University freshman. The 18-year-old was walking with friends near campus, reportedly hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.  Near the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach, a man wearing a mask and dressed in all black clothing, ambushed the group. As they ran, Jose Medina, 25, opened fire. Gorman was shot in the back. Using surveillance video, police tracked Medina, who was arrested at his apartment just blocks from the scene. Officers allegedly found clothing and a 40-caliber handgun matching shell casings found at the scene. Chicago Police say the shooting appears to have been random.   Medina is facing felony charges of first-degree murder and aggravated use of a firearm.  Joining Nancy Grace today:  Greg Morse - Criminal Defense Attorney of Morse Legal, Author of “The Untested” found on Amazon; website: morselegal.com  Dr. Geri-Lynn Utter  - Clinical Psychologist Specializing in Psychological Evaluations and Risk Assessments for Individuals Involved in the Criminal Justice System, Author of “Mainlining Philly: Survival, Hope and Resisting Drug Addition,” and “Aftershock: How Past Event Shake Up Your Life Today”, and Producer of “Utter Nonsense,” a documentary of exploration of addition and severe mental illness, available to stream on Apple TV and Prime Video; Instagram & Facebook: DrGeriLynnUtter   Dan Corsentino - Former Police Chief, Former Sheriff, Served on US Homeland Security Senior Advisory Board, Private Investigator Dr. Thomas Coyne - Chief Medical Examiner, District 2 Medical Examiner's Office, State of Florida; Forensic Pathologist, Toxicologist, Neuropathologist; X: @DrTMCoyne   Sydney Sumner -  Investigative Reporter, ‘Crime Stories’ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young teen college girl, an 18-year-old co-ed, Sheridan Gorman, is shot dead on a stroll with friends, executed in cold blood tonight, an illegal Venezuelan immigrant prime suspect. I'm Nancy Grace. this is crime stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

18-year-old freshman Sheridan Gorman was a bright rising star at Loyola University, Chicago, until in a single moment, everything changed. What happened to this beautiful young co-ed joining us an all-star panel? But first, I want you to hear the police dispatch from that shooting incident. Listen. Do you get caught anyone in custody? There's no one in custody at this time, right? Negative.

We're working for mail wearing and all in the T-Mask. Straight out to Sydney Sumner Crime Stories. Investigative reporter, Sydney, lead me up to the moment that shots rang out. This was a Thursday night like any other for Sheridan Gorman and her newfound friends at Loyola University. The group decides, hey, we might be able to see the Northern Lights tonight. Let's go walk out to the beach.

and see if we can get some photos of the lights over the skyline of the city. So this group takes a .7 mile walk. They're four minutes from campus when they reach the pier where they want to take these photos. And Sheridan notices something going on behind some bushes. She kind of points it out to her friends and a masked man, this man wearing all black and a sloan

and a ski mask emerges from those bushes in the dark. And as they kind of back off from this guy, he pulls out a gun, opens fire. At these college students who just stumbled upon him. In Sheridan, she's hit. You know, the dichotomy of just starting your life out being a college student with so many possibilities before you. She's 18 years old, going to college, scrubbed in sunshine.

It's the parents' dream come true. They worked their whole life all their time, all their effort, all their money. They pour into her to get her to college. Maybe I'm projecting Sydney because my children are about to go away to college. They think, oh, we did it. We made it. She's going to be fine. Did you say 0.7 miles?

Not even. a mile, not even a 15-minute walk for Pete's sake? Four minutes from the edge of Loyola campus. The dichotomy is very unsettling, straight out to Dr. Jerylind Utter. She is clinical psychologist specializing in psychological evaluations and risk assessments author of mainlining Philly survival hope, resisting drug addiction, and she is the producer and star of utter nonsense. a documentary. Dr. Gerald, and thank you for being with us. What is it? It's just such a stark

comparison to her life, just really getting started at age 18 and then being struck down doing something as innocent is going on a walk with her friends to see the Northern Lights. Yeah, with something like this, Nancy, a lot of questions that's probably going through folks said is why her, this 18-year-old girl, she's beautiful, she's away at her, you know, first year at college. And when we look at something like, this we look at psychologically a concept called target substitution so what that means is she may not have been somebody that was stalked by this particular individual but in the moment the decision was made that it would be her so

though the intent initially may not have been her or that she was being stalked it was definitely something that was planned in that moment that he made the decision that of those other folks that she was the one that that was potentially going to be targeted So we call that target substitution. And from, you know, the perpetrator's perspective, it usually comes from a place of, you know, no empathy, grievance, control, anger. He's angry about something, though it may not be her specifically.

It may be something that she represents. And he wanted to basically, you know, institute a lot of pain and suffering for other folks. You know, I'm looking at a graduation photo of the victim. and she is wearing honor braids around her neck. When I said scrubbed in sunshine, I really meant it. And another thing I don't understand, Sidney Sumner, apparently a Chicago lawmaker blamed the victim after saying this teen girl was killed her words, not mine,

by a, quote, illegal immigrant was in the wrong place. She, she, her, the victim, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she, quote, startled her attacker, suggesting Sheridan was shot dead there on the lakefront because she was in the wrong place, the wrong time, and startled Jose Medina Medina of Venezuelan man. So do I have that right? Did the female lawmaker actually say it's her fault because she startled him? I don't think that was the intent behind the comment, Nancy, but yes, they are saying that Sheridan maybe should not have been out that late at night.

But this is a college student. This is the time. Hold on. Let me understand what a crime stories investigator just said. A lawmaker blurted something out but, quote, didn't really mean it. you, Sidney Sumner, can divine what she really meant

and you're saying that she meant that she shouldn't have been out that night? That's your explanation? So the victim shouldn't have been out. Of course not, Nancy. Of course this victim should be able to do whatever

she wants to do. This is a grown woman. Her college campus should be a safe place. Chicago should be a safe place for a young woman to be out with a group of friends 10 minutes from her dorm, four minutes from her dorm, to take photos of the northern lights, to enjoy the city skyline. So of course, Sheridan Gorman did nothing wrong by being out with her friends. Her stumbling upon this man should not be a reason that she's now dead, that her life is now extinguished.

Of course that should not be the case. And this older woman did make a comment, yes, this young teen girl was unfortunately a victim of a wrong place, wrong time. Murder. Something that never should have. Okay, you know, that's something I'm not understanding. And to me, you're digging your own hole, your grape with your teeth right now. Because there's no way to clarify what this lawmaker, and I'm used to. that in a loose sense of the word, said. So if you're saying, Sidney, she didn't mean what she said.

I watched the clip. That's not how she meant it. What she meant was she shouldn't have been out at night. Well, that's just as bad. I've heard that my whole life since I started prosecuting. The victim shouldn't have been at a bar. Why? The victim shouldn't have worn a short skirt. Why? The victim shouldn't have jogged. Why? I've heard it and heard it and heard it. If it starts with the victim shouldn't have, then I reject it. This girl, and she is a girl, she is 18 years old, was out on a stroll with her friend girls to see the northern lights. There she is in her honor grad outfit. And she is gunned down, and it will be a cold day in H-E-D-L that I buy that the shooter was, quote, startled.

He had dressed in all black. He was wearing a ski mask to cover his face. He came to the location with a gun. Straight out to Greg Morse joining me, veteran defense attorney. He is the founder of Morse legal and author of The Untested Greg. So, when was the last time you went for a walk wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun? Let's just start right there. Yeah, that's never happened before.

Ski mask when I'm in a cold weather place, but never. Oh, yeah, like Palm Beach. Okay. You know, this is the issue like the lawmaker, what's problematic and troubling is the lawmaker's statement should have been, we failed this girl because we don't put any resources in the security. This park should have had security. This park should have had better lighting. You can have all the technology you want in law enforcement, but you know,

need police officers on the ground walking around. That's what stops crime. Lighting stops crime. It doesn't give people places to hide. And that's the reason why these things are going to continue to happen in places like, I guess, Chicago, because they have lawmakers that are blaming victims for doing what every single person does, goes out at night, especially young people. And this was right, a very nice thing to do.

It wasn't partying. It wasn't anything. It was going to the park. And I imagine Loyola is a very expensive. of university and the fact that there's no security at this park from the campus is tragic. And parents should be demanding more from the university. This easily could have been avoided by simple security measures that the school, I have no doubt, has plenty of money to put in place.

So it's one of the unfortunate things that people can become victims anywhere in our society, especially a free society. And what's not being talked about, Nancy, which is important, have this undocumented immigrant get the gun. Who gave the gun? Where'd the gun come from? There's been no talk of that at all. That's an important aspect to this, that someone who legally cannot buy a firearm, bought one and killed a young lady who had all the promise in the world. Okay, you know what? I had to write so quickly. I can't even read my own writing. All the people you blamed just then. I was three inches of Sydney Summer's tailpipe trying to defend that councilwoman blaming the very

victim. But this is who you blame. Start counting. You're going to need both hands, Jamie. Start counting. One, the lawmakers. Two, the park. It was the Chicago Parks fault. Three, the lighting. They needed better lighting. Four, the police officers should have been there. Where were all the police officers? That's what? Four, five. Campus security is their fault. They were not there by the Lake. It's the university's fault. What is that? A month of 6-6. It's the university's fault. Oh, then you blame fate. Fate. It was just unfortunate. No, no, no, no, no, no. You want to stop. These things from happening, Nancy. Then you blamed our free society that it's, I guess, the American way. It's our fault because we're not in communist China and locked down.

Oh, Ann, wait, who gave him the gun? It's their fault. Well, we want to stop these things from happening because the outcome is Medina. Medina's fault. Oh, wait, I've got another one. He blames somebody else. Why am I hearing him? I thought he cut his mic, but I'm still hearing him. Did he say, how did he get back in the country?

Why was he here? I guess he's blaming INS. Okay, I'm not sure about that because I was writing so quickly. Sydney Sumner, you're off probation for a few moments. Isn't it true that the perp was dressed? This is a yes-no, by the way, all in black. All in black. Ski mask.

Correct. Gun. Correct. Hiding in bushes. Mm-hmm. Jumped out on a bunch of girls. I am not sure the composition of the friend group. I don't know if it's Sheridan and four other girls.

I know it was Sheridan and four other friends. Thank you, Sydney, for that subtle yet important distinction. Okay, Greg Morse, there is no way you can blame anybody except Medina, Medina. He's the one clad in black wearing a ski mask with a gun. You can out blame the lighting or the police weren't there or the campus security. You cannot take the focus off him. And you better not pile on and blame the victim. Well, it's not, no, it's just a simple fact that, you know, as a society, you want to create things in situations so this can't happen or limit happening.

It can happen anywhere, of course. We're a free society. And Medina's the guy that's responsible for this, at least according to law enforcement right now. That's who they arrested. But when we look at the situation and situations all over America, there's simple things that could be done that can, you know, maybe avoid this. from happening. You know, I don't, I live in Florida. I practice law. I don't live in a state where, you know, this happens, but there's a different view when it comes to ICE enforcement. Are you telling me murders don't happen in Florida? I said they do. I said they absolutely do.

I'm a criminal defense lawyer that handles these cases. Yes, we have a lot of them here in Florida. And I blame, I blame the drug trade. I'm a criminal defense lawyer. I'm a lot of them. out of Florida for a lot of crime in Atlanta. Because the dopers come straight up I-75, first major pit stop, Atlanta, let's have a turf war. So I don't know what you're saying. There's no murder in Florida? No, there's plenty of crime that go in Florida.

I was referencing the fact that when we have things here that happened, that government tries to correct the situation so it doesn't happen again. You can't stop this young lady. She was unfortunately killed. So what do we do to try to avoid this? And when you read about the situation, there's some pretty simple things that may have saved this. Yeah, he'll still be alive today.

Not let violent felons come back in the country. You know, we can start with that. Well, he had a petty theft. Why single them out? Well, he had a petty theft charge in America. Why don't we keep violent felons behind bars instead of letting them rotate out? Like their graduation at kindergarten, just keep on walking, keep on walking. Native-born Americans.

commit more crime than undocumented immigrants by a rate of over 50%. Native-born Americans commit more crime than any resident of any other country. Let me be really clear for Greg Moore's and everyone. I don't care if you're an illegal immigrant. Or if your great, great, great-great-grandpa

came over on the Mayflower. If you commit a violent fine, if you commit a violent crime, you need to go to jail and stay there. and not come through the rotating, revolving door and get right back out. That goes for illegal immigrants, too. Why is he here? To Sidney Sumner joining us, Sydney, explain to me, who is this guy? Why is he here? Jose Medina is from Venezuela, and he first arrived in the U.S. in the spring of 2023.

From there, we know he was briefly detained by Border Patrol, then released into the country, and he winds up in Chicago. And just a few months after first entering the United States, Medina robs a Macy store on State Street. About $132 was the charge. Well, wait a minute. I thought it was shoplifting. Shoplifting, correct. He stole from a Macy store.

Okay, because robbery is when you... take something from a person, whether you're armed, that would be armed robbery or simple robbery, as you just mentioned, where you take something away from an individual, not to be confused with burglary when you enter a premises to commit a felony. That felony could be vandalism. It could be murder. It could be rape. It could be theft. That's an assault on the premises as opposed to shopping. where you just swipe something out of a store. But you were saying he had been here not even a year before he's busted on shoplifting? Yes. So arrives in May, 2003, September, 2023, hit with that shoplifting charge for lifting items from a Macy's store, about $132 worth of merchandise stolen.

And Medina, of course, is released on bail. And he never returns to court. There was an active arrest warrant for Medina at the... the time of Sheridan shooting. Guys, this is bringing up the specter of so many other young girls and young women attacked by illegal immigrants with a violent past. I am not, and let me be clear, referring to immigrants that have helped make our nation great. My family came from immigrants.

Poor Irish coming to America for a new start. I am referring to felons that enter our country and are allowed to stay here. Again, this is not about politics. Greg Morse would love to drive me down the path of arguing what difference does it make if it is an illegal immigrant or it's someone a born-in-bred USA killer. It doesn't. But this begs the question of why? Is he here? What was his record in Venezuela?

I know this. This girl is dead. This girl is dead because, according to police, an illegal immigrant that should not have been here, shot her dead. I really thought it was a firework until I heard the police sirens come, and I got out of bed,

and I just heard the screaming. They were saying, come help us. We're over here. Ms. Sheridan Gorman was kind of just the first in the group and the person they ran into shot her. So one shot and killed her. Just tragic. The other students ran. The shooter fled.

Her and four friends were literally a four-minute walk from campus. So it's not like they were out looking for trouble or during one of the safest areas of Chicago, from what I understand. From our friends, Picks 11, ABC and NBC. Early Thursday morning, Sheridan and her friends went out hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights, unaware of the danger ahead. They saw this person coming over. They all got up and started to walk away, and he just opened fire. And unfortunately, you know, Sheridan was hit, and we lost her immediately.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. People come out here after dark. weather's milder. We see that more as the spring and summer comes along. You know, they were kind of down at the end of the pier. Seems they stumbled onto someone. They, quote, stumbled onto someone. That's not what happened.

He jumped out of the bushes, armed. That's from our friends at Picks 11 and ABC. That is older woman, Maria Haddon speaking, from the Chicago 49th Ward. Straight out to special guests joining us, Dr. Thomas Coyne. He is the chief medical examiner, District 2 Medical Examiner's Office in Florida,

where, according to Morris, they don't have any murders. A forensic pathologist, toxicologist, neuropathologist. Dr. Coyne, thank you for being with us. Thank you. Thank you for having me. What did Sheridan experience that night? Well, unfortunately,

she died of a gunshot wound the head. And so the second that bullet would have impacted her skull, she would have been knocked unconscious and she would have died almost immediately thereafter. Gunshot wounds of the head are devastating injuries. Most of these wounds are from 9mm handguns and the velocity at which the bullet exits and the force it carries produces devastating injuries to the brain. And you and I are sitting here, a weight, or not even thinking about having to breathe in and breathe out, those structures in our brain often are injured immediately after being shot in the head. And so a person stops breathing, loses consciousness, and dies soon they're at, devastating

wound. Dr. Coyne, we understand that a 40-caliber bullet killed her. What is the difference in, say, a 40-caliber and a 9 versus a 22? What would be the difference? It's a little bigger, and it packs much greater force. Greater force than a 22-caliber handgun. And so a wound to the head from a 40-caliber handgun is devastating. In other words, the skull itself, when the bullet impacts the skull, would fracture.

As the bullet travels through the brain, not only does it is a bullet destructive directed to the brain, but the force of the bullet creates a pressure wave around the bullet, which devastates brain structures that are even further away from the bullet itself. And so a person often has severe skull fractures and devastating brain injuries throughout the entirety of not just where the bullet travels. So even a bullet that may graze the head or graze the brain can still be fatal just because of the force that bullet brings with.

Now, you were describing a 40 caliber, but could you compare it to a 22 caliber specifically? Sure, 22 Calibers, so I've had people who attempted to commit suicide by placing a 22 caliber handgun against the head. And depending upon where that gun is placed, the skull itself may be thick enough to slow down the 22 caliber bullet where either stopped in the skull or isn't as devastating, let's say, as a 40 caliber or 9 millimeter projectile that will travel through the brain, often producing extensive skull fracture. And so the 22 caliber, from a handgun in particular, tends to have less force. It can still be devastating, especially, you know, it strikes vital structures, can have fatal consequences or profound neurologic injuries, but tends to not have as much force as a 9mm or 40 caliber handgun. What's the differential between a 22 and a 40 caliber?

In terms of, well, the weight of it, you know, you're probably a 40 caliber. You're looking, you know, above 100 grains, 22 caliber below. But, you know, in terms of the measurement, I'd have to show you, you know, in terms of centimeter measurement. But it's a smaller projectile itself and also, you know, the actual gunpowder that is packed with, so that it produces less force when it's fired. So the projectile itself is smaller. and travels with a lower velocity than a 40 caliber or 9mm. Therefore, the force, you know, mass and speed are going to be, you know, mass and velocity

are going to be less. You know, Dr. Thomas Cohen, I know you're looking at your monitor and seeing photos of Sheridan. It's hard for me, difficult for me sometimes, to discuss the facts, the trajectory behalf of a bullet, the angle, and look at the victim in life. and reconcile that she is nothing now but a dead body on a slab to be autopsied, where you figure out the trajectory path and what the bullet did to her brain. Do you ever allow yourself to think about that when you are conducting an autopsy such as on a young girl like this? I try not to.

I have a son who's graduating high school and about to go off of college. And so when I see victims at age, I have to turn off my emotions because as a parent myself, it's hard not to have your heart just break when you walk into the morgue and you see that body lying on a table. But I know that I'm doing my best to hopefully bring justice for her. And so I know that my job is to go in there and figure out exactly what happened, try to provide evidence so I can get the law enforcement, hopefully, you know, bring her killer to justice. And so I have to focus on those things and try to turn out. off those emotions because if I let those emotions creep in, I couldn't do my job.

Same. Same. I would find it very difficult at times to move forward in a felony trial when I was looking at the victim's family on the front row or using photos of the victim. When you determine trajectory path, which is very important in proving a case, how it happened, because look, I fight a lot with Greg Morris. That's because we're on two days. different sides. But what he is saying is what a defense attorneys say if they're a good one at trial. Okay. Now, they will use as is allowed under the Constitution. They will use any tidbit of information to change the scenario, put out a different possibility, such as, hey, wait a minute, look at this trajectory path. Maybe she attacked him. I mean, I don't know. It's ridiculous,

right? But it happens. So that is why you, the medical examiner, must keep a clear head and determine everything you can from the body. How do you go about determining, for instance, because it will come into play the trajectory path of the bullet that's seared through her head. How do you do that? And I want you to be specific. Well, there are several things I can tell about a gunshot wound in the body. Mind you, the body's laying flat on the autopsy tape. So based upon the physical characteristics of the wounds, I can tell you what is an entrance wound, what is an exit?

And then I can sometimes give you range of fire. So as a bullet leaves a gun with the bullet comes gas, comes spent gunpowder particles, and those will strike the skin if the handgun is within three feet of the body. So if there are marks of close range fire, I can tell law enforcement. that I see that I'm a body. Then, of course, I can track where the bullet goes through the body from how it enters. Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. Did you think you could just blurt out things like I determine entry and exit?

And we're going to be happy with that? No, we're not happy with that. Explain how you determine what is the entry and what is the exit. Physical characteristics of the wound itself. So when a bullet comes out, of a gun, you know, the rifling of the gun, whether there's a rifle or a handgun and parts to spin upon the bullet. So oftentimes, when a bullet enters a body without striking another target first, it will have a very well-circised entrance wound. And then as it travels through

the body, smooth, hey, smooth. You're brilliant. We all know you're brilliant. Are you saying in regular people talk, the entry is typically smooth and the exit is ragged. Yeah, well, Well circumscribed, yeah, exactly. And then when a bullet hits tissue, it wobbles and has an irregular path through the body. So the exit wound is often more irregular. And as it comes out, it'll pull tissue with it. So there's characteristics that you can see in bone and tissue that allow me to say which way a bullet traveled through the body. Okay, hold on just a second.

I want to follow up on what you're saying, Dr. Coyne. Greg Morse, I want you to look at this girl. look at Sheridan on your monitor. Greg, right now we're talking about the smooth, which to me is diabolical to refer to a bullet, entering your head as the smooth entry. But that's how it looks on the outside of most, most bullet wound entries. But think of punching a paper bag. When you come out the other side, out comes her tissue.

her brain matter, her blood, the flesh comes outward. We're talking about an 18-year-old girl. My little girl, Lucy, and my son, John David, 18. And now her parents have to deal with the entry and the exit wound in her head. And you actually tried to blame the park, the lighting, the police officer, campus security, the university, fate, free society. Really? Well, it's not a matter of blame.

It's a matter of simple things that may have avoided this. That's all, because the immigration isn't why this happened. These are simple things in society that time after time again just aren't being addressed. And, you know, again, you're at an expensive university, a common college place, and there's no one around. There's no one for a student to call for help. There's no one to do anything. And you're right. Listen.

Hold on. I'm sorry, Greg. Why would she need to call for help? Oh, that's right, because a guy jumped out in a ski mask with a gun. Okay, I see you're not giving up. You're going to go down with the ship. Well, Nancy, you know one thing that's interesting is they matched apparently Medina with facial recognition software and photos from ISIS file. So it's interesting that this person's going around with arrest warrants.

they obviously have facial recognition software in this community, but it did nothing for that. Could have maybe stopped it before it got too violent. That's my only point. So, you know. Okay. Jamie, please cut his mic. Jamie, could you please add ICE? It's ICE's problem and facial recognition because they did not go out and find him there hiding in the bushes in his ski mask. Dr. Thomas Coyne, another question. When I refer to trajectory path, what is that and why is it significant when proving a criminal case? And to me, it's significant. So from the autopsy, I can tell you where a bullet passes through the body.

So whether it entered in the back or the front or the left or the right side, if it traveled upward or downward, and you can piece that information together with information on scene to try to figure out where a shooter may have been standing at the time the, the gun was fired. So it allows you to somehow figure out... You know when this really came to the forefront, Dr. Coyne? Do you remember you and I analyzing the testimony at the Alex Murdoch trial? Because the defense was trying to claim that because of the trajectory path, the angle, that the bullet entered Maggie's body and exited, that the killer must have been really,

really short. Something crazy like that and Merlock is six foot something. Well, there's so many ways to explain the trajectory path. For instance, the killer could have been standing above the person. The victim could have already been down on the ground. It depends on the angle. For all I know, there's so many variables. But if you had that other evidence you were talking about the corroborating evidence such as an eyewitness, the trajectory path can then corroborate what the eyewitness says. Explain. Sure. So, I mean, if an eyewitness says they saw the shooter standing behind the person who was shot, firing the weapon, and I'm doing the autopsy, and I show that the bullet entered the

back of the head, you know, traveled back to front with a slight, you know, left to right trajectory. You can piece that together with the eyewitness account of where they say the shooter was understanding, and therefore it helps corroborate those pieces of evidence. Such a great soul, a warm soul would do anything for you, just like the family. From WGN. Without warning, a masked man stepped out of the shadows armed with a gun and moving toward the group. Joining us now tonight, Dan Corsentina, former police chief, former sheriff, U.S. Homeland Security Senior Advisor, Private Investigator at Dan Corsentina.

Drsantino.com. Dan Corsentino, I'd like you to weigh in on Greg Morse blaming facial recognition not being used to apprehend Medina Medina earlier. Well, first of all, I want to lay a foundation. Jose Medina Medina is a criminal, and he came into this country illegally, and he committed acts, which at one point can be deemed to be misdemeanor. but he escalated up to this horrific crime of murder. Simply put, he's a criminal.

Second, the Chicago PD in this case took it and were very, very comprehensive in working with U.S. customs and border control because they took the information they had from my witness. They took the information after they matched the 40 caliber. shall casings and they then had everything in play to present to US Customs and Border Control which then ran facial recognition immigration had this individual Medina Medina in the system and clearly they brought back what was a positive identification of Medina Medina as the perpetrator in this horrific crime.

How would facial recognition have helped if they couldn't find him, Dan? Well, first of all, the facial recognition creates really a unique digital template, which is compared in a database. And it stored and matched against other faces, hence those individuals with ice that were coming across the border,

that they stopped for whatever reason, perhaps a previous crime, they went into the database. And then the AI, artificial intelligence, IDs, that facial recognition template. And what they really do is they measure the distances between the eyes, nose shapes, jaw lines, and they come up with what would appear to be a mathematical representation.

If they did not have that, they would have had to rely on the forensics of the weapon, possibly the DNA off of the gun, and or really, really dug a little bit deeper to try and identify any other video CCTV surveillance that they had in this case. So it would have been very difficult without the facial recognition. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Sydney Sumner, we heard Greg Morse blaming the police and campus security and the university and the... But how is it, thanks to the police, that Medina Medina was actually apprehended? Well, in conjunction with that facial recognition software, there was lots of surveillance footage that captured him before and after the shooting.

And that footage tracked Medina all the way. way to his home. That's where he took that ski mask off where that facial recognition came into play. So led him straight to where he lived, were able to recognize him off of previous ICE photos, and when they went in for the arrest, both the gun, the clothing, and the ski mask that was worn and used during the commission of the shooting was recovered from Medina's home. So what about that, Greg Morris? I guess you're going to say the police planted it? No, I mean, you know, the one thing that, what I don't know, it seems like the descriptions were somebody with a limp, walking with a limp in all black. So that's pretty

generic stuff to get a search warrant on or something like that. But, you know, it's too early to tell what the finer points of the investigation led to what the probable cause was to get any warrants, how the facial recognition plays in to this. But, you know, but. So, you know, this is my point, you know, whether it's facial recognition, license plate readers, law enforcement has a lot of tools to piece together what happened with these technologies from point of crime backwards and forwards of the parties involved. And unfortunately, you know, it came too late for this young lady. And that's all my point is, you know, we should try to prohibit use these technologies to stop this

instead of reacting to it like we do in America. So. Okay, so stop the shooting before it happens. Okay, note to self. Sydney Sumner, we just hear Greg Morse, and it's important we listen to what he's saying because what he's saying may very well be used as a defensive trial. So what you do as a prosecutor, you prepare your own case, and then you anticipate what the other side is going to do and shoot it down before it becomes a problem. For instance, Did police, law enforcement, have PC probable cause to enter Medina Medina's home? Because if they didn't, the ski mask, all the other evidence will be thrown out of trial because of fruit of the poisonous tree. A warrantless search without PC is disallowed and all of the fruit of that search, the evidence, also disallowed. So, isn't it true that they saw him on various surveillance cameras leaving the scene, running, same outfit, they tracked him to his home, and that is where he's caught, taking the mask, the mask, off, and we see his face. Yes, that's absolutely correct. They have footage all the way to the inside of the lobby of the building where he lives.

and that's where Medina stops, rips off the mask, and they got that image of his face to later compare her facial recognition. Wow, Greg, Morris, who should I believe you are my lion eyes? Well, you know, there's other aspects that could come about in a case as a defense. Like I note this Medina's in the hospital for tuberculosis. One of the side effects of tuberculosis is it could affect your mental state. Maybe there's some element to this situation that involves that. Well, again, as you know, if your mental state is not, you don't know right from wrong because your mental state is, you're mentally insane, whether temporarily or permanently, that's a defense.

So, you know, there are aspects. You know, you are. It's, Dr. Thomas Coyne, do you know of a known link between tuberculosis and insanity? Well, the only way usually it can cause that as if you are in cephalopathic from either severe disease. disease or if you have spread actually into the brain. But, you know, I would argue, you know, the directed behavior of putting on an actual ski mask and going out and putting a crime shows that you're able to put two thoughts together as opposed to just being crazy or acting in an encephalopathic state. What do I know?

Now, hold on, Dr. Croyne, when you throw around phrases like encephalactic, you mean encephalitis, which is, I think, swelling. of the brain due to some sort of inflammation. And if you were that sick, would you really be running along the lake side with a gun and a ski mask? Wouldn't you be in the hospital connected to some machine? Yeah. If you have direct involvement, you know, you're going to have severe brain. It never ends with this guy.

What did you say, Dr. Coyne? I'm sorry. I said if you have direct involvement of the brain with tuberculosis, you're going to have pretty significant brain swelling, which tends to put a person back. rather than acting in a crazy-like state. It depends upon, not to get specific, but where the disease is involving the brain, but generally not associated with tuberculosis. And Dr. Cohen, we're giving that defense way too much attention.

But you know what? Actually, you're right, because you know you get one crazy gerar that might buy into the encephalitis, tuberculosis, mental insanity thing. Dr. Gerald and Utter joining us. Dr. Utter, the parents are, of course, bereft, and they're somewhat blaming the school, that the school didn't have safety precautions. I think they're coming from a place of extreme

pain. Extreme pain. What is your message? I thought I knew it all about grief when my fiance was murdered. But now that I have the twins, I can't imagine what these parents are going through. What is your advice to them, doctor? Take it one minute, one hour, one breath at a time. It feels, you know, what we want to do is we want to, not blame, but we want to find a way to make it better for maybe other students. So if they're pointing their attention to the university, that's an outlet of grief. It may also be a way to activate them to say, I don't want this to happen to anybody else. I don't want my daughter's life to have been in vain, like her life taken in vain. I want to kind of make sure I can create something, a legacy, something to change for the good to protect other kids.

I can't even imagine. There's no textbook answer, Nancy. There's nothing that I can say, hey, why don't you do this because it'll help you. I think they just have to surround themselves with people who love and support them. They have to take it one breath, one second, one minute, one hour, one day at a time. And they have to do what feels good for them. So down the road, if they want to participate in a bereavement group of other parents who have lost their children, if they want to engage in psychotherapy separately, not necessarily together,

mom and dad can do it separately and then together. But again, I think the key message is we're in survival mode. right now. They just have to do what feels good for them. And when I say good, I mean, that just allows them to take the next breath, that allows them to hydrate, get something to eat. They just have to do whatever allows them to exist in this moment and to stay together as much as they can because we can't, we can't say or monetize or or figure out what's going to make them feel better. We just have to be there for them and they have to serve themselves with people who love them. The parents Thomas and Jessica Gorman have flown to Chicago to collect their daughter's body.

They gave a statement, our beloved daughter Sheridan was taken from us this morning in Chicago. There was no way to soften this. This was murder. Sheridan was the light of our lives. She made people feel seen, safe, and loved simply by being who she was. We trusted she would be. be safe. That trust was broken. They are demanding answers. And also, I hear where they're coming from. Why was this guy still in the U.S.? Why was he here to start with? If the school knew that students

typically go on this walk, not to give any credence to Greg Morris, but a broken clock is right twice a day. if they knew students frequently take this walk. Why wasn't their campus security? He is right. The university has tons of money. There's so many avenues to explore, but this is murder, and her parents are grieving. If you know or think you know anything about Sheridan's murder,

please dial 312-44-8263. Repeat. 312-744-48-3. 263. Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye, friend.