A statue honoring fallen Chicago Police Officer Ella French was unveiled Sunday on what would have been her 34th birthday.
“I could not have imagined a better birthday gift for her,” said Elizabeth French, Ella French’s mother.
Ella French was fatally shot, and her partner, Carlos Yanez, Jr., was critically injured during a traffic stop in 2021.
“I look at her, and I want to touch her,” Ella French’s mother said. “The only thing better would be to have her in person. She is beyond beautiful.”
Artist Erik Blome, who created the life-size bronze statue that now sits at Wentworth Park, said he wanted to create the connection Ella French had with people.
The statue depicts French, who loved animals, alongside a dog. The adjacent dog park was also dedicated as the “Ella French Dog Friendly Area” in her memory.
“I have heard the stories how she would tell her partner – stop the car – because she would see a stray animal and want to get it to safety,” her mother stated.
Ella French’s legacy has also been celebrated in other ways, including the non-profit Light the Line, which was founded by her family to support on-duty police officers.
“Ella is not the only officer killed in the line of duty, and I am not the only parent that has lost a child. This is for them too,” her mother said. “I told somebody once this is a wonderfully sad thing…like any parent, you would rather have your child.”
Elizabeth French said losing a child is “a devastation that leaves a hole in your heart and life that does not away, but things like this are very healing – very healing.”