A Chicago man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of a police officer in August of 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 29-year-old Ella French, wounded her partner Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., and fired a shot at 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 listening to 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 29-year-old Ella French, pictured here, wounded her partner Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., and shot at Officer Joshua Blas during a traffic stop
According to the Chicago Tribune, French’s mother Elizabeth told the judge: ‘The memories, they sneak up on me sometimes and I am filled with grief and sadness.
‘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.’
After finishing her impact statement, French then 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.
‘There was your choice, to become the murderer of my daughter. Life in prison means you will still have your life, something you took away from Ella.’
Officer Yanez who was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder described how the incident had left him blind in one eye and partially paralyzed.
Addressing Morgan, he said: ‘I would like to tell you, you have taken so much that night.
‘You killed Ella French and left me for dead. I was bleeding on the curb as you stood over our bodies.
‘I’m here before you today to say you will not take any more. I will continue to fight everyday like I did that horrific 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, and his brother Eric, right, who accepted a plea deal last September
Chicago police work the scene where two police officers where shot during a traffic stop along the 6300 block of South Bell in the West Englewood neighborhood, Aug. 7, 2021
‘I will never forgive you and I don’t care what excuses you have. You f****d up that night and took so much away.’
During the seven hour long sentencing hearing, emotions boiled over when Yanez’s father hurled expletives at Morgan from the witness stand.
The older Yanez, who is also a retired Chicago police officer himself, swore at Morgan and said someone should have killed him long ago.
As he did so, Morgan’s mother yelled a insult about his son and she was quickly removed from the proceedings as Yanez Snr said he hoped Morgan rotted in jail.
Prosecutors said that Morgan fired multiple shots at the officers after French and the two other cops stopped an SUV being driven by his brother Eric Morgan.
Eric Morgan has already pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of justice.
He was offered a plea deal last September which will see him serve just seven years in prison for his heinous crimes.
Prosecutors said that Morgan fired multiple shots at the officers after French, seen here, and the two other cops stopped an SUV being driven by his brother Eric Morgan
Morgan’s attorney, public defender Kristine Neal, told the judge that he isn’t beyond redemption and can still be rehabilitated.
Morgan has said that the prosecution was unjust, that the traffic stop that led to the shooting was unlawful and that French died accidentally.
His attorney’s argued at trial that body camera video of the incident was unclear, making it hard to determine what happened during the stop.
French is pictured before her death with her fellow officers
Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said: ‘There were choices that the defendant made on that evening that could have left a young woman alive, another officer uninjured and people going home safely to their families.
‘This ending, with a young man spending the rest of his life in prison, is what happens when one uses gun violence in the manner in which they did.’
According to CBS News, Officer Yanez said outside the court: ‘I don’t think it’s justice. I’m not going to get closure.
‘I mean like, I’m affected for the rest of my life. So many people were affected by this.’
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.
