Ella French murder trial: Police partner who was severely injured testifies
CHICAGO - On the second day of Chicago Police Officer Ella French's murder trial, the jury heard from her partner, officer Carlos Yanez, who was severely injured in the same shooting that claimed her life.
Yanez walked up to the stand with a bit of a limp on Wednesday. It's a miracle he's alive after being shot five times during the 2021 traffic stop that killed his partner Ella French.
RELATED: Ella French murder trial: Jury selection begins Monday
Emonte Morgan is on trial for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the case.
Emonte Morgan (left) and Ella French | Chicago police
While on the stand, Yanez told jurors he remembers pulling over the suspect's vehicle, but then his memory goes blank until he remembers lying on the ground and hearing more gunshots.
"As I was fighting to breathe, I heard gunfire right above me and then I heard Josh screaming," Yanez said.
He was referring to officer Joshua Blas, who returned fire and hit Morgan.
"I was completely paralyzed," he said.
Yanez became emotional and wiped away tears as he watched body camera videos from the three police officers at the shooting scene.
He also described at length the impact the shooting has had on him physically, pointing to bullet scars on top of his head, his neck and his shoulder.
Bullet fragments remain lodged in his body. He also lost an eye and suffers from tinnitus that he says sounds like a fire alarm going off constantly.
Yanez spent months at a rehab center recovering from his injuries and is now on duty disability, working for the Fraternal Order of Police.
Read more: Graphic bodycam video played in trial of Ella French's alleged killer
"Emotional's a good word. Carlos, I'm sure, had it in his head he was going to be OK, but to not see your duty belt for over two years now since that night kind of brings back the mortality of it all and how close you were to not being here anymore," said President of the Fraternal Order of Police John Catanzara.
Jurors also heard testimony from a neighbor who stopped Morgan's brother Eric as he fled the scene and from a former police officer who described finding the murder weapon next to Morgan's shoe in that neighbor's yard.
Eric Morgan pleaded guilty last October to aggravated use of a weapon and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
His brother Emonte's trial is expected to continue through next week.