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A jury found Emonte Morgan, 24, of Chicago, guilty in March of
first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and
possession/use of a firearm as a felon. Prosecutors say he
fatally shot 29-year-old Officer Ella French, wounded her
partner, Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., and shot at Officer Joshua
Blas during a traffic stop in August 2021.
Cook County Circuit Judge Ursula Walowski sentenced him to a
mandatory life sentence and added 57 years after listening to
French and Yanez family members describe their grief, the
Chicago Tribune reported.
“The memories, they sneak up on me sometimes and I am filled
with grief and sadness,” French's mother, Elizabeth French, told
the judge. “I don’t know that closure will ever be possible for
me. … Someday my daughter and I will meet again. Until then I
will miss Ella every day.”
Yanez's father, Carlos Yanez Sr., a retired Chicago police
officer himself, swore at Morgan and said someone should have
killed him long ago. As Yanez spoke, Morgan's mother yelled a
profane insult about his son. Deputies quickly removed her from
the courtroom as Yanez told Morgan he hopes he rots in jail.
Morgan's attorney, assistant public defender Kristine Neal, told
the judge that Morgan isn't beyond redemption and can still be
rehabilitated. Morgan said that the prosecution was unjust, that
the traffic stop that precipitated the shooting wasn't lawful
and that French died accidentally.
Morgan's attorneys argued at trial that body camera video of the
shooting was unclear, making it hard to determine what happened
during the traffic stop.
Morgan's brother, Eric Morgan, who was driving the vehicle,
pleaded guilty in October 2023 to charges of aggravated unlawful
use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice and was
sentenced to seven years.
Another man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to 2
1/2 years in December 2022 after pleading guilty to a federal
firearms charge for buying the handgun used to kill French in an
illegal straw purchase.
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