Disabled police officer Carlos Yanez spent more than two hours giving testimony Wednesday about a night he said he barely remembers.
Wiping away tears on the stand, Yanez watched the bodycam video from his own camera and that of his partner's, showing how an August 2021 traffic stop took a tragic turn, leaving him with severe injuries and his partner Ella French dead.
Emonte Morgan is now on trial for her murder.
Assistant State's Attorney Emily Stevens asked Yanez, “Have you ever regained any memory of what happened between the time you stopped that gray SUV and the time you woke up on the ground?
“No," Yanez said.
“Do you still feel the effects of being shot as you sit here today?” she continued.
“Everyday,” he said.
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Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge President John Catanzara praised Yanez for having the mental and physical fortitude to take the stand.
“I don’t know how you couldn’t sympathize with talking about never being able to move for months and here he is, walking into a courtroom unassisted except for a brace on his leg,” he said of Yanez, who is now working for the FOP.
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Emonte Morgan was in the back seat of the SUV his brother was driving when they and his brother’s girlfriend were pulled over for having expired plates. The officers found an open bottle of alcohol in the vehicle and ordered the occupants out.
Bodycam video played in court showed Emonte Morgan resisting Yanez and shooting him before running off. On the video, Morgan can be seen standing over Yanez's body with a gun in his hand.
His brother, Eric, took a plea deal in October and is now spending the first of seven years in prison for his role in the shootings. Their grandmother was in court today and offered her prayers and condolences to both families. “We never wanted any of this to happen,” Denice Morgan said.
There was also testimony Wednesday about the gun that was found when Emonte Morgan was tackled by a group of neighborhood men when he jumped over their fence and into their barbeque party shortly after the shooting.
In their cross examination, Morgan’s public defenders attempted to cast doubt on the gun, how it was fired and Yanez's memory, asking if he could have grabbed it.
Yanez, who was shot five times and lost an eye, said he doesn’t remember that evening and probably never will.
The trial will continue Thursday.
