A California couple was charged Tuesday in the road-rage shooting death of 6-year-old Aiden Leos on an Orange County freeway last month.
Accused shooter Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, was charged with murder and discharging a firearm, while his companion, Wynne Lee, 23, was charged with being an accessory, ABC News said in a report.
The two are accused of killing the youngster by firing into his mother’s car on a California freeway during a road-rage incident on May 21.
Aiden was rushed to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Eriz and Lee fled but were arrested Sunday inside their Costa Mesa apartment, and were ordered held on $1 million bail each.
Eriz, a former auto shop worker, was described in new reports as a gun fanatic.
Aiden Leos was sitting in a booster seat in his mother’s car when he was struck by the gunfire. GoFundMePhotos he posted on social media show him firing an array of assault-style rifles and handguns outdoors and at shooting ranges, according to reports.
Orange County cops said Eriz is believed to have fired the fatal shots while Lee was driving the white Volkswagen during the incident that left the boy dead.
According to authorities, Aiden was riding in a booster seat with his mom, Joanna Cloonan, 55, in the carpool lane of the freeway when she was cut off as she changed lanes to exit, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Joanna Cloonan gathers the strength to speak about her 6-year-old son, Aiden Leos, on May 22, 2021. NBCCloonan made an obscene gesture, prompting the other vehicle — allegedly with Eriz and Lee inside — to maneuver behind her silver Chevrolet Sonic and shoot at the car.
Cloonan pulled over and cradled her wounded son until paramedics arrived.
“It could’ve happened to any one of us,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at a news briefing. “We all drive the freeways of Southern California. We’ve all gotten upset at other motorists, other motorists have gotten upset at us.”
Authorities said surveillance footage and tips helped police arrest the accused shooter and accomplice. AP“I’ve thrown some gestures about myself,” Spitzer said. “But it’s never come to a situation of violence and certainly, not in my realm or your realm, to the loss of life.”
Spitzer is scheduled to hold a new briefing Tuesday afternoon.
The California Highway Patrol said Monday that the Volkswagen was recovered inside a garage in Whittier that belonged to one of Eriz’s relatives — with the gun also recovered, a law enforcement source told the LA Times.
Authorities said surveillance footage and tips helped cops nab the pair.
Speaking on “Good Morning America” after her son’s death, Cloonan had pleaded for “justice to be served” in the case.
