The fatal shooting of 18-year-old college student Sheridan Gorman has reignited debate over Illinois’ sanctuary state status, as grieving Angel Parents demand accountability for what they say was a “preventable” tragedy.
Authorities said Gorman, a student at Loyola University, was shot and killed by a migrant in the country illegally. For Angel Parents like Jennifer Bos and Joe Abraham, the loss hits close to home.
“This was preventable and should have never happened. We just don’t have serious leaders in Illinois,” Abraham said Wednesday on “The Faulkner Focus.”
Abraham’s daughter Katie was killed by an illegal immigrant in January 2025. He’s spoken about not hearing from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in the wake of her death and has called for changes to the state’s sanctuary policies.
“This is what I was talking about. This is what I wanted to stop, and I just knew it was going to happen again, unfortunately,” Abraham said, adding that he knows the loss the Gorman family is feeling.
“They’re going to have so many sleepless nights. I know the exact questions that are going to run through their head, and my heart goes to them. I pray for them every night for strength to get through this and find some comfort,” he said.
Pritzker’s office told Fox News Digital on Monday that their “thoughts are with the family, friends, and Loyola University community grieving the senseless murder of Sheridan Gorman.”
The statement added that crime has no place in Chicago streets, and that the perpetrator is expected to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
But for Jennifer Bos, holding one suspect accountable isn’t enough to stop this from happening again. Her 37-year-old daughter, Megan Bos, disappeared in 2025 and was later found in a container behind the home of an illegal immigrant outside Chicago.
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“They’re going to have to fight for themselves and for their daughter. They’re going to have to fight for that justice because Illinois does not give it to you,” Bos said of the Gorman family Wednesday on “America’s Newsroom.”
“People are outraged that families are being separated and all of this, but they’re being separated by a border,” she said. “As another angel mom says — Agnes Gibboney — she says, we’re separated by 6 feet of dirt and a coffin. That’s forever.”
Pritzker has faced criticism after Gorman’s death and for his comments on federal agent-involved deaths in Minneapolis. The criticism also follows an influx of illegal migrants into Chicago during the Biden administration.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the suspect in Gorman’s death, Jose Medina-Medina, was a Venezuelan national who was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol in May 2023, before he was released into the country. Despite a later arrest for shoplifting in June 2023, Medina-Medina was released again, according to the agency.
