Flags across the state of us-regions were lowered at half-staff Wednesday as a public viewing was set to begin for Ella French, a 29-year-old chicago” target=”_blank”>Chicago< officer who was shot dead nearly two weeks ago while conducting a traffic stop.
During an emotional vigil hosted outside the 10th District – Ogden Precinct Tuesday night, French’s brother, Andrew French, described how much his sister loved the city she chose to serve.
“She loved hard and she love this city,” he said. “She loved everything about it except for the nasty parts that we all know. And she made a point of becoming a police officer to try and change those things.”
French was shot once in the head while conducting an Aug. 7 traffic stop on a car on the city’s South Side occupied by two brothers, who now remain jailed without bond. Her patrol partner, 39-year-old Carlos Yanez, was critically wounded and remains hospitalized Wednesday.
“I still did not know [if] my son was going to make it. They told me, ‘Doesn’t look good,’” the wounded officer’s father, Yanez Sr., said at the vigil. “He’s got two shots in the head – one in the brain, one in the eye. But he’s still fighting. He’s still trying to live for his son – 3-year-old son – Carlos III.”
“A simple traffic stop turned into a tragedy,” Carlos Yanez Sr. continued, according to WBBM-TV. “Yes, us here will never forget Ella or the other officers that come before her, and my son – but the people will, because they don’t feel the pain we feel.”
According a GoFundMe page started by his family, Yanez “suffered from multiple gunshot wounds to the eye, brain, and shoulder all causing potentially lifelong disability.” The page had raised nearly $160,000 as of Wednesday.
A public visitation for French will take place Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Temple. French’s funeral will be held there Thursday morning followed by a private burial to be attended by her family.
“There are very few officers who I meet along the way who are really enthusiastic, really want to work hard and do the best that they can for the community and most of all be there for their fellow police officers. Ella French was one of them,” a police lieutenant also said at the vigil Tuesday, according to Fox 32 Chicago. “For as long as I’m around, I’m alive, Ella French will always be remembered.”
Chicago’s police oversight agency announced Monday that no videos can be released of the shooting that killed French at this time, Fox 32 reported. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) said footage cannot be publicly shared due to a current court order preventing its release.
Monty Morgan – a 21-year-old previously identified as Emonte Morgan – is charged with first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted murder of two other officers, unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charges in connection to the shooting. His brother, 22-year-old Eric Morgan, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and obstruction of justice.
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Both remain held without bond. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown voiced his “outrage” last week when a federal judge cleared the release of a third suspect, 29-year-old Jamel Danzy, on a $4,500 bond. Though the vehicle stopped on Aug. 7 was registered to Danzy, he was not present at the time of shooting. He is facing federal charges for being the alleged “straw purchaser” who supplied the gun used to murder French and wound Yanez.
