Former Chicago Police Officer Carlos Yanez (center) walks with Elizabeth French, mother of slain Officer Ella French, at the Criminal Courthouse this week.
Anthony Vazquez | Sun-Times
In new video played in court Thursday, jurors saw the frantic rush to get Chicago Police Officer Carlos Yanez to the hospital after he was critically wounded during a traffic stop that claimed the life of his partner, Officer Ella French.
The footage, from a camera worn by a cop responding to the shooting, shows a group of officers working together to lift Yanez into the back of a squad car.
“There was a lot of blood, a lot of swelling,” the officer, Nicholas Morales, testified on the third day of the trial for the accused gunman, Emonte Morgan. “I just stepped on the gas.”
Morales said he had first checked on French but “quickly learned she was unresponsive,” so he went to Yanez. “I heard in a faint voice saying, ‘I’m shot,’” he recounted.
“I didn’t want to leave Ella but he needed help,” the officer continued.
After loading Yanez into the back of the squad car, Morales said he grabbed another officer to help, got into the driver’s seat and together they sped to University of Chicago Medical Center, about 5 miles away.
Video from the camera worn by the officer with Morales showed the squad car racing through red lights. At the hospital, it didn’t appear medical staff were prepared for their arrival, Morales said.
They alerted a crew from a nearby ambulance for help getting into the emergency area and another ambulance crew to unload Yanez. Jurors were shown video of Yanez being wheeled on a gurney into a hospital room, blood covering his head. Medical staff removed his shoes and cut away his clothing. At one point Yanez raised his hand.
Several jurors appeared distraught as they watched doctors work on Yanez. Earlier this week, at least one juror silently cried at video of the officers being shot and another juror closed their eyes.
Other body camera video shown Thursday showed a police sergeant arriving on scene to find Emonte Morgan lying on the ground after being shot in an exchange of gunfire with a third officer, Joshua Blas, who had been with Yanez and French at the traffic stop.
In the video, the sergeant approaches Morgan, who is rolling on the ground, the front of his shirt bloody. Telling other officers to watch Morgan, Sgt. Matthew Lopez went down the street to where a Chicago Fire Department ambulance had arrived and directed it to Morgan.
Also on Thursday, prosecutors called several evidence technicians to identify and describe the shell casings, blood swabs and other evidence collected at the scene of the shooting and in a backyard where Emonte Morgan’s brother, Eric Morgan, had fled after the shooting. The alleged murder weapon was found nearby.
Emonte Morgan’s lawyers took note of the chaotic scene as police officers swarmed the area in response to Officer Blas’s call for help.
“You weren’t focused on protecting a crime scene or anything like that?” Assistant Public Defender Ryan Carlsen asked Officer Morales.
“No” Morales said.
“The scene was, fair to say, pretty chaotic?” Carlsen asked.
“Yes,” the officer said.
Morgan, 23, faces murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting of the two officers.
His brother has pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery with a deadly weapon and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, the maximum allowed by law.