Mother of accused cop killers arrested after reportedly attacking police officers in hospital
Authorities arrested the mother of two brothers arrested for the shooting death of a Chicago police officer after she reportedly attacked officers at a hospital where one of the brothers had been admitted.
Police arrested Emonte Morgan, 21, and brother Eric Morgan, 22, in the fatal shooting of Chicago Police Officer Ella French during a Saturday traffic stop.
What are the details?
According to the Police Tribune, the Morgans' mother, Evalena Flores, stormed Advocate Christ Medical Center and demanded to see her son, Emonte, who was wounded before being taken into custody for French's shooting death.
Emonte faces charge of first-degree murder of a peace officer, two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. Eric, who was reportedly driving the vehicle, faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.
French and her unnamed partner were conducting a traffic stop on the suspects' vehicle for purportedly expired plates on Saturday night when at least one of the suspects in the vehicle began firing on the officers.
The bullets struck both French and her partner. French was killed, and her partner was injured and hospitalized.
Both French and her partner still had their guns in their holsters when they were fired upon.
Ahead of arriving at the hospital, Flores posted a since-deleted Facebook Live video in which she declared she would be a "voice" for her "boys."
"You not alone," she said, according to the outlet. "Know that s**t. For everybody else, I just wanna simply say there is another side, and my boys' side is not being told right now."
She also insisted that she and her sons are fearful of police and that her "heart drops" every time an officer pulls up behind her.
"We fear our police here, unfortunately," Flores said. "We don't believe in them. We don't trust them. ... We scared. That's just the reality of it, whether people wanna hear that or not, I don't give a damn. ... I need to be a voice for my boys."
When she arrived at the hospital, she began another since-deleted livestream filming herself running through the corridors of the hospital while demanding to see her son.
"Can you open the door?" she was said to have demanded. "I'm trying to see my son! Open the motherf***ing door!"
At that point, the outlet reports, Flores shoved her way past hospital staff and began shouting at officers outside her son's room.
"Don't touch me!" she reportedly shouted and purportedly began physically fighting with them. "Get away from me!"
The Chicago Tribune reported that Flores then kicked one of the officers in the groin.
Authorities arrested her on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing, resisting a police officer, and battery.
She is due in court on Sept. 15.
French had served the city on the force since April 2018.
In a statement on the killing, Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown said, "They come to work willing to run toward danger, toward gunfire. And they're willing to sacrifice their lives to save the lives of perfect strangers. ... They went to work today after last night's tragic, tragic events. Others are at work now, right now, continuing this brave, courageous work of protecting the people of Chicago."