Police Officer Ella Grace French
Officer: Chicago Police Department, Police Officer Ella Grace French
Date: 8/7/2021 Location: Chicago, IL FACTORS (1,2,8,9,14,15,21)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Emonte Morgan
Criminal Activity History/Involved: Yes, besides charges for battery and theft in 2019, Morgan was on probation for an earlier robbery conviction./Yes, Emonte Morgan was in a vehicle with expired registration with his brother Eric Morgan, and as felon’s they were illegally in possession of a weapon.
Mental Illness: None stated.
Substance Abuse History/Involved: Unknown./None stated.
Race/Sex/Age: Black/Male/21
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At approximately 9 p.m. on August 7, 2021, Chicago Police Officer Ella French and her partner conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by brothers Emonte and Eric Morgan, along with a female, for expired plates. During the course of the stop, Officer French asked the brothers to exit the vehicle.
Actions taken by subject toward police: After initially complying with Officer French’s orders, Eric took off running as Emonte physically resisted her efforts to control him, breaking away from and fatally shooting her and severely injuring her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr. with two shots to the head after accessing a firearm hidden upon his person.
Reactions by the police: Another unnamed officer responded to the sounds of gunshots at the scene and shot Emonte, injuring him. Officers scoured the neighborhood and located Eric Morgan who was being held down by heroic concerned citizens.
How murdered? Officer French was fatally shot during a traffic stop.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? When searching a subject, it is nearly impossible to control them regardless of the size difference so, if they become combative the officers should not hesitate to use a taser and/or escalate their use of force as appropriate.
Would the officer have been justified to use deadly force before being murdered? The officers were justified to use deadly force as soon as Morgan’s hands went to his waistband but such a movement takes less than a second and is hard to see when someone’s arms are flailing as his were reported to be.
Outcome for the cop-killer: Emonte was charged with “charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated use of a weapon by a felon” and his brother Eric faces charges of “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and one count of obstruction of justice.”
Miscellaneous: While on probation, Emonte was arrested on April 9, 2021, for being involved in a hit-and-run in which he ran over a pedestrian. Rather than keeping Morgan locked up on felony charges and/or violating his probation and putting him in prison, he was only charged with a misdemeanor and released for a future court date.
