Community Dedicates Statue Of Slain Officer Ella French And Dog Bella In Chicago Park

CHICAGO — In the hours following Chicago Police Officer Ella French’s murder, a photo of the 29-year-old officer holding a pit bull-mix puppy quickly went viral on social media. French had taken the puppy home after finding it while on patrol, naming her Bella.

“She loved that dog like a child,” her former partner, now-CPD detective Josh Blas, said in a tearful tribute at the slain officer’s funeral. "She'd start screaming in the car, pointing out stray dogs, and chase them up and down blocks so we could take them to a shelter."

French was killed in August 2021 while conducting a traffic stop in West Englewood. Her other partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., was also grievously wounded, losing his right eye.

But on Sunday, Ella's mom, Elizabeth French, along with Yanez Jr., fellow police officers and community members, gathered in Garfield Park to remember French as she was in life — loud, funny, beautiful — and to dedicate a bronze sculpture of French and her dog Bella.

"Ella took her dog Bella to the dog park often, so I know that it makes her happy to be watching over the dogs that will come here to play at the Wentworth Dog Park,” Elizabeth French told the crowd. “

The sculpture was created by internationally renowned artist Erik Blome, of Crystal Lake. When approached by Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) about doing a monument honoring French and her lifelong love of dogs, Blome said he remembered the story.

“I remember thinking, ‘damn, that’s terrible,’” Blome told Patch. “I had to put some thought to it. The aldermen were so enthusiastic. I realized how admired she was and had a story that was pretty intriguing.”

Elizabeth French with statue honoring her daughter. | CPD

Blome said he bonded with Elizabeth French over the fact that both had adopted children. The committee for the statue, including Elizabeth, provided photos of her daughter. One of the photos flagged was of French holding the puppy.

“I did sketches based on the photo,” Blome said. “I wasn’t going to give them sketches of that exact photo. I changed it to her squatting on her knee with a full-grown dog.”

From a technical point of view, Blome said he used a friend with a similar build for a model.

“[The model] came a lot, ten full days,” Blome said. “I did take photos. She was a good model. She works at Trader Joe’s and has kids.”

The woman even donned French’s police uniform as Blome sculpted the figure from life.

“She put on Ella’s uniform,” Blome said. “She was very understanding, she was an artist herself.”

A shelter dog named Whitney from the Orphans of the Storm animal shelter in Deerfield was used for the dog model.

“Whitney was a little touchy, I was so scared of the dog,” Blome said. “Eventually I was petting her, and she got to trust me. I was feeding her. Whitney got adopted by a couple in Lake in the Hills, who came to see Whitney’s sculpture. They were excited to learn their newly adopted dog was part of a monument.”

A shelter dog named Whitney was used for the dog model. | Blome

When Elizabeth French saw the finished piece, Blome said she declared that the sculpture was her daughter’s body. The artist admits that prior to accepting the commission, his interactions with police officers were not all that positive, mostly from traffic violations, until a female police officer from Crystal Lake saved his life in 2015.

“I was on my way home from my studio at midnight when I started having a heart attack,” Blome recalled. “I told my wife I couldn’t breathe when I got home. I was so stressed out, working nonstop two weeks straight.”

When his wife asked if he wanted her to call 911, “it felt like two tow trucks were driving across my chest,” Blome said.

Blome went into full cardiac arrest and became unconscious. For a full six to nine minutes, his heart wasn’t beating at all.

“My heart was flickering” Blome said. “Fortunately, a cop around the corner gave me CPR with a defibrillator she had in the car. She saved my life. I wrote her a letter and sent a gift. It changed my whole view of police officers.”

Blome’s works appear all over the Chicago area and throughout the world, including the statue of Jean Baptiste DuSable, the first non-native settler of Chicago; the Chicago Blackhawks 75th anniversary monument, and Oak Lawn’s 9/11 first responder sculpture incorporating beams from the fallen World Trade Center at the Oak Lawn Patriot Metra Station.

He recently complete a statue of the first Chinese-American woman, Laura Liu, to be appointed a Cook County judge and, later, an Illinois appellate court judge. He’s also working on commissions for a life-sized log for Woodstock, where his studio is located, with a groundhog on it in homage to the famous movie filmed there, and a sculpture of Crystal Lake with a water theme.

The bronze sculpture of French is by the entrance of the newly dedicated Ella French Dog Friendly Area in Garfield Ridge’s Wentworth Park, 5625 S. Mobile Ave., Chicago, not too far from John F. Kennedy High School.