Jamel Danzy, accused straw purchaser of gun used to kill CPD Officer Ella French, pleads guilty to federal charge

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The man accused of making the illegal "straw purchase" of the gun later used to shoot and kill Chicago Police Officer Ella French last year pleaded guilty to federal charges on Wednesday.

Jamel Danzy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal firearm offenses. According to his plea agreement, the likely sentencing guideline he'll face is 10 to 16 months in prison when he is sentenced in October, although a final decision will be up to the judge in his case, and the charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.

Danzy admitted to buying the gun from a dealer in Hammond, Indiana, in March 2021, and giving it to a convicted felon from Illinois who could not legally purchase a firearm because of his criminal record. 

Danzy filed paperwork with the dealer stating that the gun was for himself. Although the charges against Danzy do not name the individual he bought the gun for, it ended up in the hands of Eric Morgan, one of two brothers charged in the shooting that killed Officer French and wounded her partner.

Cook County prosecutors have said French and two other officers were on patrol in a marked squad car around 9 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2021, when they pulled over a gray SUV with expired plates near 63rd and Bell.  

Prosecutors have said Eric Morgan was driving the SUV, while his brother, Emonte, was in the back seat, and a woman was in the front passenger seat. There was open alcohol in the vehicle, and the woman was not wearing a seat belt.  

After pulling over the SUV, all three officers walked up to the vehicle, and French approached the driver, taking away his car keys. Prosecutors said Eric Morgan admitted to having marijuana in his possession, and French had him get out of the car.

Meantime, one of French's partners approached the woman in the front passenger seat, while her other approached Emonte Morgan in the back seat, and asked both of them to get out of the vehicle.

After they were pulled over, Emonte Morgan began to struggle with police while Eric Morgan ran off. 

During the struggle, prosecutors say Emonte Morgan pulled out a gun fired several shots, hitting French and her partner, Officer Carlos Yanez, who both fell to the ground.

Meantime, Eric Morgan had run back towards the SUV, and Emonte Morgan handed the gun to his brother, who ran off, before he was detained by witnesses who caught him in a nearby yard, where he had dumped the gun.

French later died of a gunshot wound to the back of her head. Yanez survived, but lost an eye in the shooting, and is unable to move the left side of his body because of a bullet wound to the right side of his brain.

Eric Morgan, 23, faces multiple counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, obstruction of justice, and aggravated battery in the shooting.

Emonte Morgan, 21, faces multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and weapons charges. Both are being held without bail.

CBS 2's Charlie De Mar talked exclusively with Danzy and his brother, Roderic Hopkins, in Gary, Indiana, after Danzy's arrest in August 2021, and asked Danzy what he would say if some people might ask how he got caught up in such a situation.

"Just do right," Danzy said. "Just do right by what the other person is supposed to be. Do the right thing."

De Mar asked Danzy if he was in any way coerced or tricked into the situation.

"I mean, things happen. Things happen for the wrong reason. I really don't want to talk more about it. It happened, so I'm out, and I'm happy that I'm out and everything – so I'm happy to see my family. I'm not a criminal. I'm a good person," Danzy said.

Danzy dances online – and some of the videos he posts are in a classroom setting. At the time of his arrest, he had been employed as a Head Start teacher's aide in the Merrillville Community School Corporation since 2019. Prior to his arrest in this case, he had no criminal record.

"I'm a good person, educated, went to school got two degrees – a bachelor's and master's – love kids, work with kids, love my nephew. I work hard every single day. I stay out of trouble," Danzy said.

De Mar asked Danzy how he felt about the fact that the gun he is accused of buying was used to kill a Chicago Police officer and injure her partner.

"I don't even want to discuss it. I just feel truly bad about the situation and that's it," Danzy said.

He added that when he heard about the shooting that killed Officer French, he was "devastated."

"I'm truly devastated still, because I wouldn't want that to happen to anybody," he said.

De Mar asked Danzy if Morgan gave him any indication why he wanted the gun back when prosecutors said Danzy purchased it on March 18 in Hammond, Indiana. Danzy replied, "No, not at all."

When De Mar asked if Morgan had just asked him to buy the gun for him, Danzy added, "I mean, no comment. I don't want to talk about that at all."

With amazing speed, the case against Danzy traced where one of the guns used to shoot the officers came from - and the lapses that allowed it to get in the wrong hands.

Within 12 hours of the shooting at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, police had a thorough history of the weapon - and the flaws that they say put serial number AFBZ467 in the hands of Eric Morgan.

The complaint against Danzy included a photo of the weapon, a Glock Model 44, that investigators said was purchased and then used in the fatal shooting. Danzy also owned the car that was pulled over by French and her two partners, prosecutors said. During questioning at a restaurant in Munster, Indiana, where Danzy works, Danzy said he has been in a relationship with Morgan for three years and sometimes let Morgan drive the vehicle.

Three years before Eric Morgan was charged with the shooting, he was convicted of armed robbery near Madison, Wisconsin - complicating future access to guns.

So in March of this year, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Morgan leaned on a friend from Hammond - Danzy - to buy him a sport-utility vehicle and a weapon.

Both were used Saturday night, authorities say.

At a Hammond gun shop, Danzy filled out a firearms transaction record required by the Department of Justice.

His crime, federal authorities say, was committed when he answered question 21(a): "Are you the actual buyer of the firearm?" That came with the words, "WARNING: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person."

He checked yes.

Outside of the restaurant in Hammond where Danzy works, the feds questioned him Sunday afternoon. Federal authorities said in the back seat of a car, "Danzy admitted that he was lying." on question 21(a).

That is the mechanism that made him what is known as a straw man - buying a weapon for someone who cannot.

Danzy told authorities that Morgan paid him to purchase the car, but it does not appear he was paid to buy that gun for him.

Danzy, the feds say, knew that Morgan could not buy a gun himself, and that Morgan drove from Chicago to Indiana to pick it up in March 2021.