Straw Purchaser Of Gun Used To Fatally Shoot Ella French Sentenced

CHICAGO — The Indiana man who pleaded guilty to straw purchasing a gun that was later used to kill CPD Officer Ella French and critically wounded her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., in August 2021, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court.

In a courtroom packed with Chicago police officers and the families of French and Yanez, Jamel Danzy, 30, was handed a 2 ½ year sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. Danzy had pleaded guilty in July to one count of federal firearm conspiracy. Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence of five years for the Hammond man.

Two brothers, 24-year-old Eric and Monty Morgan, 22, have been charged with using the gun purchased from Danzy to shoot French and Yanez. Both are being held without bail in Cook County Jail, pending their trials.

On the evening of Aug. 7, 2021, French was riding with her partners, Yanez and Joshua Blas, as part of a community safety team in West Englewood. The three officers spotted an SUV with expired plates near 63rd Street and Bell Avenue. When the officers approached the vehicle, there was an exchange of gunfire with Monty Morgan, as the officers tried to remove him from the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Morgan’s brother, Eric, had broken away with Blas in pursuit. When Blas heard gunfire, he left Eric and ran back to his partners. Monty fired multiple shots at Blas, prosecutors said. Blas fired back, hitting Monty Morgan in the abdomen. Neighbors detained Eric Morgan until police arrived. A woman riding with the brothers was released without being charged.

The .22-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol used to shoot French was found at the scene and traced to Danzy. Prosecutors said Danzy purchased a Glock in March from a licensed gun store in Hammond, IN. Paperwork showed he claimed to be buying the weapon for himself. ATF agents said Danzy told them he purchased the gun for Monty Morgan, one of the brothers accused of fatally shooting French.

Both Morgan brothers had prior criminal records and could not legally purchase a weapon. One Morgan brother — the complaint did not specify which — gave Danzy money and told him the exact type of gun he wanted Danzy to purchase for him, the complaint states.

Before the sentencing hearing, 80 pages of letters were submitted to Judge Gettleman, urging the judge to give Danzy the maximum sentence of five years.

“Officer French was a wonderful and caring person, she volunteered to work a difficult schedule in communities being held hostage by a few [who] choose to create chaos … Officer French understood this, and that is why she left the comfort of a district assignment and joined a difficult citywide assignment. P.O. French was a unique individual … Young officers identified with Ella, the shared a kinship with her even if they did not know her.”

"Straw purchasers and firearm traffickers enable violence with deadly consequences," said attorney John R. Lausch, Jr.

The mother of Ella French, Elizabeth French, addressed the court. French said she had last spoken with her daughter right before her fateful shift. She spoke of receiving the call that her daughter had been shot. Told at the University of Chicago Medical Center that her daughter had died, Elizabeth spoke of going to see her daughter’s body, according to the Chicago Tribune that was in the courtroom.

“My heart shattered. ... My lovely baby girl is lying on a table, still and silent in death. ... I am sobbing, ‘My baby girl, my baby girl,’” she said. “I hug her. I hold her face. ... I want her to wake up and start talking to me.”

Elizabeth French also addressed Danzy.

“What did you think that weapon was for?” she said. “Some day you will walk out of prison and return to your life. ... Your choices took my daughter from me forever. ... Nothing you can do or say will bring my Ella back. Nothing this court can do can bring my Ella back.”

She told the judge that Danzy deserved the maximum sentence.

While the Judge Gettleman recognized that many in the room were angry, he said the sentence had to be just.

Danzy, who had no prior criminal background, said he took full responsibility for what he did.

“This never should have happened,” Danzy said.