Aiden Leos freeway shooting: Verdict reached in deadly road rage incident

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - One of two suspects linked to the fatal road rage shooting that killed 6-year-old Aiden Leos back in May 2021 was convicted Thursday by a jury of second-degree murder.

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, was also convicted of shooting at an occupied vehicle. Jurors also found true allegations of personal use of a handgun. The jury of ten men and two women took less than three hours to convict him.

Orange County DA Todd Spitzer said Aiden's mother, who was not in court Thursday, is an emotional mess, but thankful for the verdict, which he says "sends a clear message that this is not the new world order, because people are acting irrationally and crazy out on our roads today".

Co-defendant Wynne Lee, who is being charged as an accomplice, is being tried separately. Eriz was a passenger in the car driven by Lee, his girlfriend at the time, when the shooting occurred.

Aiden's mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving on the 55 Freeway in Orange County, taking her son to kindergarten, when she was cut off by the defendants, Eriz and Lee.

Lee, who was behind the wheel, made a peace sign at Cloonan after cutting her off. A few miles later as Cloonan was merging over to the 91 Freeway, she passed the defendants and gave them a middle finger, Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman said.

Officials said Eriz became angry and shot his customized 9mm glock into the back of their car, where Aiden's car seat was situated. The bullet ripped through his liver, lungs and his heart before coming out of his abdomen, Feldman said. Aiden was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died.

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When investigators asked Eriz why he fired the weapon at Cloonan's car he told them, "For some reason I shot it," according to Feldman. The bullet entered the vehicle through the trunk and struck the boy in the backseat.

"This is not a road rage case," Feldman said.

"This is his gun," Feldman said, showing the weapon to jurors. "It was exactly where he said it would be... This is an example of Mr. Eriz's cold indifference... This is an example by Mr. Eriz of his callous and cold disregard for human life."

Feldman added, "Who shot Aiden? Just listen to Mr. Eriz. He'll tell you. It was for no other reason than a woman he didn't know extended the middle finger toward him."

Defense attorney Randall Bethune of the Orange County Public Defender's Office said his client committed a "profound mistake" with "no thought of the consequences, no thought of the results. And no malice and no intent. Just a momentary lapse of reason by a 24-year-old guy."

Bethune said it was a "mistake, a rash decision by a young man."

Eriz did not turn himself in because he wasn't even aware of what happened despite heavy news coverage of the search for the boy's killer.

"He was not a news guy," Bethune said. "He's a 24-year-old guy (at the time) who likes to play video games. He's not aware."

While Eriz was oblivious to what happened, "pressure" was mounting on law enforcement to solve the case, Bethune said.

"You can feel the pressure from the government to get the killer," Bethune said, adding there was even an article in a London newspaper, making it an "international story."

But Eriz continued to go to work each day with Lee, he said.

Finally, a co-worker of Eriz flagged a news report for the defendant, noting that the vehicle they were looking for appeared to be like Lee's, Bethune said. That prompted Eriz to do an online search and he realized what had happened, the defense attorney said.

"He goes to his (pickup) truck and has a complete panic attack," Bethune said. "So why not turn yourself in right away? When you kill someone it doesn't come with a manual. So he freezes."

Eriz did switch vehicles for his daily commute to work, taking the pickup truck instead, because he did not believe Lee did anything wrong and should not get in trouble, Bethune said.

"The writing was on the wall, and I think on some level he knew that," Bethune said.

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After his arrest, police interviewed Lee first and then confronted Eriz, who confessed to the shooting, Bethune said.

"He's not a monster. He's a young man who made a mistake," Bethune said. "He didn't intend to kill anyone... Mr. Eriz is not a murderer."

Eriz will be sentenced in April. He faces 40 years to life in prison. Lee is expected in court next month, facing charges of being an accessory after the fact.

CNS contributed to this report.

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