A Chicago man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of a police officer in August 2021.
Emonte Morgan, 24, was found guilty in March of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of a firearm as a felon.
Morgan fatally shot Ella French, 29, wounded her partner, Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., and shot Officer Joshua Blas during a traffic stop.
On Wednesday, Cook County Circuit Judge Ursula Walowski sentenced him to a mandatory life sentence.
Judge Walowski also added 57 years after hearing family members describe the impact the shooting had on them.
On Wednesday, Cook County Circuit Judge Ursula Walowski sentenced Emonte Morgan to a mandatory life sentence.
Morgan had fatally shot Ella French, 29, pictured, wounded her partner, Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., and shot Officer Joshua Blas during a traffic stop.
According to the Chicago TribuneFrench’s mother, Elizabeth, told the judge: ‘Memories sometimes come flooding back and fill me with pain and sadness.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to close this chapter. Someday my daughter and I will meet again. Until then, I’ll miss Ella every day.”
After finishing his shocking statement, French turned to Morgan and addressed him directly.
She told him: “Sometimes life sucks. It sucked for me when you killed my daughter, but life gives you choices.
“Your choice was to become my daughter’s killer. Life in prison means you still have your life, something you took from Ella.”
Officer Yanez, who was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder, described how the incident left him blind in one eye and partially paralyzed.
Turning to Morgan, he said, ‘I’d like to tell you that you had a lot to drink that night.
‘You killed Ella French and left me for dead. I was bleeding on the sidewalk as you stood over our bodies.
‘I stand before you today to tell you that you will not endure any longer. I will continue to fight every day as I did that horrible night.
Officer Yanez, seen here after the incident, was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder, leaving him partially paralyzed and blind in one eye.
Footage later emerged of the incident showing Morgan, who is blurred out, and his brother Eric, right, who accepted a plea deal last September.
Chicago police work at the scene where two police officers were shot during a traffic stop in the 6300 block of South Bell in the West Englewood neighborhood on August 7, 2021.
“I will never forgive you and I don’t care what excuses you have. You screwed up that night and you took a lot from me.”
During the seven-hour sentencing hearing, emotions ran high as Yanez’s father hurled insults at Morgan from the witness stand.
The elder Yanez, who is also a retired Chicago police officer, swore at Morgan and said someone should have killed him a long time ago.
As he did so, Morgan’s mother shouted an insult about her son and was quickly removed from the proceedings while Yanez Sr. said he hoped Morgan rotted in jail.
Prosecutors said Morgan fired multiple shots at officers after French and the two other officers pulled over an SUV driven by his brother Eric Morgan.
Eric Morgan has already pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of justice.
Last September, he was offered a plea deal that will allow him to serve only seven years in prison for his heinous crimes.
Prosecutors said Morgan fired multiple shots at officers after French, seen here, and the two other officers pulled over an SUV driven by his brother Eric Morgan.
Morgan’s attorney, public defender Kristine Neal, told the judge that his loss is not precluded from redemption and that he can still be rehabilitated.
Morgan has said the prosecution was unfair, that the traffic stop that led to the shooting was illegal and that French died accidentally.
His attorney argued at trial that body camera video of the incident was unclear, making it difficult to determine what happened during the stop.
French is pictured before her death with her fellow officers.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said: “There were decisions that the defendant made that night that could have left a young woman alive, another officer unharmed and people returning home safely to their families.
‘This ending, with a young man spending the rest of his life in prison, is what happens when you use gun violence like they did.’
According to CBS News, Officer Yanez said outside court: “I don’t think it’s justice. I’m not going to be able to close the case.”
“I mean it will affect me for the rest of my life. A lot of people were affected by this.”
Another man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was Sentenced to 2 and a half years in December 2022, after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge for purchasing the gun used to kill French in an illegal purchase.
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