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Emonte Morgan shot and killed Police Officer Ella French during a traffic stop in August 2021 officers said. (Image of French and a 2019 booking photo of Morgan: Chicago Police Department)
Jurors in Chicago, Illinois, have convicted a man of murdering a police officer and trying to kill two of her colleagues during a tragic traffic stop.
Sentencing is pending for Emonte Morgan, 23, with a post-trial motions hearing set for April 19, according to Chicago ABC affiliate WLS. Charges are first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. The jury reportedly took three and a half hours to determine that he meant to kill Officer Ella French, her partner Carlos Yañez, and a third officer, Joshua Blas.
The defense argued that Morgan, who had a gun in his waistband during the fateful traffic stop in August 2021, did not intend to open fire — that the firearm instead went off when he tried to put it down. Contrary to what police said, the defense said that there should not have been a traffic stop in the first place because the plate was not expired.
But the prosecution said that several shots were fired.
Yañez almost died and cannot serve as a police officer anymore because of his injuries. He testified to being shot five times in the head, neck, and shoulder, according to Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW. He lost his right eye, and was initially paralyzed, though he can now walk without help, he said. Bullet fragments remain in his shoulder and neck, too dangerous to remove, he said.
“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Stevens said.
Morgan’s brother, Eric Morgan, was sentenced last year to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice in connection with French’s death. A third man, Indiana resident Jamel Danz, received two and a half years in prison for illegally purchasing the gun that was used to kill French.
“We are incredibly gratified by the jury’s verdict today,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx reportedly said after court. “But it is difficult to feel anything other than sadness about the senseless murder of a Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty, who laid her life on the line for the people of Cook County only for it to be struck down by senseless violence.”
At the time of the murder, Ella’s brother Andrew French has remembered her as uniquely kindhearted.
“She was a humanitarian,” he told The Chicago Tribune. “She believed in human rights. She was one of the officers on the force that thought they needed reform. Because she’s seen the front line, just like I have. She’s always been a very caring person … When I was in Iraq, me and her, we talked. And she has some attributes that you don’t find in this world anymore.”
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