Man pleads guilty, gets 7 years in prison on charges related to Chicago officer's killing

CHICAGO — A man pleaded guilty to charges Thursday in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of Chicago police officer Ella French and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Eric Morgan, 25, entered the plea to charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice.

French, 29, was slain and her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., was wounded in August 2021 after they had stopped an SUV with expired tags on Chicago’s South Side.

Eric Morgan allegedly drove the SUV. His brother Emonte Morgan is accused of fatally shooting French and faces a first-degree murder charge. Emonte Morgan’s trial currently is scheduled for early next year.

A third man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last December after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge for making an illegal straw purchase of the handgun used to kill French.