Suspect charged with murder of 6-year-old boy in road rage shooting
A 24-year-old man and his girlfriend appeared in court Tuesday and were charged in connection with the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy on a California freeway last month.
Marcus Anthony Eriz faced a judge and was charged with murder in the death of Aiden Leos. Wynne Lee, 23, was charged with one felony count of being an accessory after the fact and one misdemeanor count of illegally concealing a firearm.
Police said Eriz fired his gun from a white Volkswagen station wagon while driving on the 55 Freeway in the city of Orange on May 21. A bullet struck and killed Leos while he was sitting in a booster seat in the back of his mother's vehicle on his way to kindergarten. The couple fled the scene of the shooting, sparking a manhunt that included a $500,000 reward for information on their whereabouts.
"We absolutely believe that she was the driver and that he rolled down his window and extended his arm out of the car and fired a round from a gun," said Todd Spitzer, the Orange County district attorney.
Police zeroed in on Eriz's white Volkswagen station wagon after reviewing video footage from drivers and highway toll cameras. There are only about 140 vehicles of this make and model among the 10.6 million cars traveling on Orange County roads daily, prosecutors said.
The arrests and the discovery of the vehicle on Sunday came one day after family and friends packed an Orange County church for a service for Leos. "My precious son had his life ripped away for absolutely no reason," said Joanna Cloonan, the boy's mother. "I want nothing more than to find justice."