CHICAGO — The man accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Chicago police Officer Ella French was ordered held without bond Tuesday, days after allegedly killing the officer and wounding one of her partners during a weekend traffic stop.
Emonte Morgan, 21, faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and two weapons offenses. He is still hospitalized after having been shot by one of French’s partners during the encounter, and so did not appear in court.
In ordering Morgan held in custody, Judge Arthur Wesley Willis noted that prosecutors said much of the confrontation was captured on body-worn cameras.
“(The officers who were shot) didn’t have weapons drawn, they weren’t firing on him, and callously … he shoots and kills one, and the other is in critical condition,” Willis said.
Morgan’s brother Eric, charged with weapons offenses and obstructing justice connected to the same traffic stop, was scheduled to appear in court for his own bond hearing later Tuesday.
Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said French and two male partners were on patrol in the West Englewood neighborhood on Saturday night when they curbed an SUV with expired license plates that Eric Morgan was driving. Emonte Morgan and an unnamed female witness were in the back seat, Murphy said.
Eric Morgan and the woman initially complied with officers’ directives to get out of the car, Murphy said, but Emonte Morgan emerged with a drink in one hand and a cellphone in the other, and did not put them down when officers told him to. He began to jerk his arms away from officers and a struggle ensued, Murphy said. Meanwhile, Eric Morgan ran off, Murphy said.
Body-worn camera from the officers showed a gun in Emonte’s waistband during the struggle, Murphy said. He was partially in the car with one of French’s partners standing over him, yelling at him to “show his other hand,” Murphy said. When French came over to assist, Emonte fired multiple shots, hitting French once in the head and leaving her partner with three gunshot wounds, Murphy said.
After hearing the gunshots, the officer who had been chasing Eric Morgan ran back to the car and saw Emonte, who began firing at him from the back of the SUV, Murphy said. That officer shot back, and fell to the ground; when he got up he saw both Morgan brothers meet up across the street and begin running, Murphy said.
That officer kept shooting and hit Emonte Morgan in the abdomen, Murphy said, then Emonte gave the gun to Eric, who fled.
Eric ran into a yard farther south on Bell, where a group of civilians detained him until police arrived, Murphy said.
Both brothers gave videorecorded statements to police after their arrests, Murphy said. Emonte Morgan admitted to having a gun in his waistband and “indicated that he thought he might have shot the girl and a boy cop,” Murphy said.
Emonte Morgan’s assistant public defender said in court that her office would present mitigating information about her client at a later hearing, when he is out of the hospital and able to attend court.
The brothers appear to have little in the way of serious criminal backgrounds, though both were on probation for separate cases at the time of the shooting. Emonte Morgan pleaded guilty to robbery in Cook County court last year, and Eric Morgan pleaded guilty to theft in Dane County, Wisconsin, records show.
Separately, federal prosecutors have charged Jamel Danzy, an Indiana man who allegedly told investigators he was in a relationship with one of the brothers, with straw-purchasing the gun that was ultimately used to kill French. Danzy turned it over to one of the brothers shortly after buying it under false pretenses, a criminal complaint alleges.
French’s partner, a Chicago police officer since August 2014, remained hospitalized at the University of Chicago Medical Center on Monday after being shot in the head. He was initially taken to the hospital in serious-to-critical condition.
Speaking at a news conference Monday where the charges were announced, police Superintendent David Brown said the wounded officer is “incrementally improving from Saturday night’s tragic events.”
“I think that the people of Chicago need to ... pray, not only for the recovery of our officer who is fighting for his life” but also for other officers on the street doing the job, Brown said.
