Thomas Gorman delivered a heartbreaking warning about illegal immigration and sanctuary policies as he described holding his 18-year-old daughter’s lifeless hand outside the Chicago medical examiner’s office. Gorman recounted a promise he made to Sheridan when she was a child, then told the crowd how that promise returned to him after her death. He blamed failed immigration enforcement and sanctuary policies for allowing the man accused of killing her to remain in the United States. His speech ended with a plea for Americans to act before another family suffers the same loss.
Gorman made the remarks during the second night of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention, where he appeared alongside his wife, Jessica, and their older daughter, Madelon. Organizers introduced the Gormans as a family that had been forced into the political debate by Sheridan’s death. The clip was later shared by the Bailey for Illinois campaign. Gorman used most of his speech to tell the audience about his daughter and the promise he once believed he could always keep.
“When Sheridan was six years old, she had to have her tonsils removed,” Gorman began. “I took her warm little hand in mine and made the promise every father believes with his whole heart that he will always be able to keep. ‘You are safe. Daddy is right here. I will protect you.’” Sheridan told him that she loved him before the procedure, only to open one sleepy eye and add, “You better get me ice cream ready, Daddy, and make sure it’s cotton candy.”
Gorman said he responded in “true fatherly fashion” by having gallons of cotton-candy ice cream waiting when she returned home. He then brought the audience forward to the day he saw his daughter’s body. “Thirteen years later, I held that same hand. Only this time, it was cold, as cold as that ice cream,” he said. “I was outside Chicago medical examiner’s office, holding the lifeless hand of my 18-year-old daughter for the last time.”
Sheridan, a Loyola University Chicago freshman, was walking with friends near Tobey Prinz Beach at approximately 1 a.m. on March 19, 2026, when a gunman approached the group and opened fire, according to ABC7 Chicago. She was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Chicago police subsequently charged Venezuelan national Jose Medina-Medina with first-degree murder and several additional felonies.
The Department of Homeland Security said Medina-Medina entered the country illegally in 2023, was apprehended by Border Patrol on May 9th, 2023, and was released into the United States during the Biden administration. He was arrested in Chicago for shoplifting the following month and released again, Fox News reported. ICE lodged a detainer after his arrest in Sheridan’s case and called on Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago officials to ensure that he remained in custody.
Gorman said the sequence of releases made his daughter’s death preventable. “Our sweet Sheridan was murdered in Chicago by a man who was in this country illegally, and all I could think about was that promise I made her,” he said. “Because when Sheridan needed me the most, I wasn’t there for her. I couldn’t get between her and that man.”
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Watch Gorman’s emotional speech here:
“Illegal immigration and sanctuary policies stole our daughter from us, and that is why we are speaking out,” Gorman continued. “We don’t want anyone else to have to hold the cold hand of their daughter and know that it was 100% preventable, because the person who killed her should not have been in this country and should not have been released after committing a crime.”
Gorman closed by addressing voters across party lines. “So I’m begging you, whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, do not wait until this becomes your story,” he said. “Every vote counts, especially now. Find your voice, speak up, and speak for these American angels. Choose leaders who will choose us, and demand that Americans and our safety comes first.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.