At a hearing on Friday, the guy who killed a small child in a minor road rage incident was told his fate.
According to a statement from the prosecution, Marcus Anthony Eriz, 27, was convicted in California to 40 years to life in prison for the death of Aiden Leos, 6.
According to authorities, on May 21, 2021, Eriz was sitting in the back of a Volkswagen SportsWagen while Wynne Lee, 26, was driving on the 55 Freeway.
Joanna Cloonan, Aiden’s mother, was taking the youngster to kindergarten in the meanwhile. Authorities claim that after the mother flipped a bird at the Volkswagen Golf SportWagen, Lee severed her head.
Leos was hit by Eriz’s gunshots as a reaction to the mom giving him the finger. When Cloonan heard her son scream in agony, she pulled over, removed the child from his car seat, and dialed 911. Hospitalized Aiden passed away.
“The depth of pain of a mother desperately trying to find some way to help her little boy as he lay dying is excruciating,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated.
Read Also: Hillsborough Authorities Nab Suspect in Ruskin Teen’s Death
“The day Aiden was murdered, his car seat meant to protect him from violent car crashes couldn’t protect him from the bullet that ripped through the back of his car seat and through his heart. The actions Marcus Eriz took were his and his alone and as a result of those actions Aiden’s loved ones will never again hear Aiden’s laughs, see his smiles, or feel his hugs. Marcus Eriz pulled out his gun and fired it into a moving car because he wanted to world to know what he was capable of — and what he took was the life of a little six-year-old boy and the sense of security of drivers everywhere who worry that driving on our freeways could be a death sentence, not because of a crash but because of a bullet. I am grateful Judge King realized that this wasn’t a horrible mistake; this is a cold-blooded murder who is more focused on his life after prison rather than the little boy whose life he ended before it even began.”
Following the murder, there was a manhunt, which resulted in the arrest of Eriz and his purported driver.
In January, he was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree murder, firing into a moving car, and two other felonies related to the intentional discharge of a handgun that resulted in significant harm or death.
Lee is going to trial for both the misdemeanor of having a hidden firearm in a vehicle and the crime of accessory after the fact.
