In a shocking episode on a freeway in Southern California, a man fired a bullet at a car during an altercation, taking the life of a young child on his way to school. The offending individual, Marcus Anthony Eriz, 27, residing in the city of Costa Mesa, faced grave repercussions for this tragic event. In January, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and firing into an occupied vehicle, resulting in the death of six-year-old Aiden Leos.
Judge Richard King in the Superior Court sentence Eriz to the harshest possible punishment of 40 years to life imprisonment. He underscored the vulnerability of the victim, expressing deep sorrow over this heart-rending loss. In Judge King’s words, the innocent 6-year old boy on his way to kindergarten, seated in the back seat and taken care of by his mother, was the ‘most helpless victim one could even imagine’.
According to the authorities, the incident happened when Eriz’s girlfriend, who was also on the freeway and driving their car, veered off Aiden’s mother on State Route 55. Aiden’s mother responded with an offensive hand gesture to the girlfriend’s making a peace sign after the traffic altercation. Following this incident, Eriz, seated in the back seat, brought his window down and fired his gun at her car.
As the mother drove further, gunshots rang out from the car following them. Suddenly, she heard her son cry out from the back seat. Little Aiden, securely fastened in his car seat in the back of their car, was hit by the bullet.
During the court hearing, Eriz took the opportunity to express his deep regret for the horrific incident. In a raw, heartfelt statement, he said, ‘The small boy was a son, a little brother, and a friend to many. Everywhere he went, he illuminated the world around him and truly seemed like one of God’s small angels.’
He continued, ‘And I am full of severe remorse for ever causing him pain, and for the agony that he faced because of my action.’ He further asserted that Aiden ‘never deserved it. Neither did his family.’ This regretful confession by Eriz, though, can do little to alleviate the grief of a family robbed of their joy and a child’s promising future now snuffed out.
Ordinarily, the sentence for the crime committed by Eriz would have been 15 years-to-life. But an additional sentencing enhancement, yielding an extra 25 years to life, was imposed on him. Judge King rejected a defense attempt to strike out this enhancement.
He also declared that he found no mitigating factors, such as past childhood trauma or his age at the time of the crime. The judge explained that none of these factors could be correlated with the horrid actions undertaken by Eriz.
Present in the courtroom was Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who emphasized the severity of the act. He stated emphatically that what happened cannot be classified as an unfortunate mistake, rather, it is a calculated, cold-blooded murder.
In a post-sentencing statement, Spitzer elaborated saying, ‘Marcus Eriz purposefully brought out his gun and fired at a moving vehicle with a clear intention of showing the world his capabilities. He stole the life of a little six-year-old boy and shattered the sense of safety held by everyday drivers that a journey on our freeways may turn into a death sentence, not necessarily because of a crash, but due to a bullet.’
Eriz’s girlfriend, Wynne Lee, has been indicted with a count each of accessory after the fact and possession of a concealed firearm within a vehicle. Her case is still up for hearing, on which she pleaded ‘not guilty’. In case of a conviction on both charges, Lee could face a sentence up to three years in a state’s prison and one year in the Orange County Jail, according to the district attorney’s office details.
The fatal and unspeakable act of violence on the state freeway spurred a wide-scale manhunt that culminated in the arrest of the accused pair on June 6, 2021. This was approximately two weeks after the shooting incident. A substantial reward of over $300,000 had been put together for any information related to the case, escalating the urgency of the search.
This case serves as a chilling reminder that anger, when given a place in our daily driving routines, can lead to devastating consequences. Too often do we forget that our actions on the road have real impacts on real lives. Perhaps such a tragic incident can serve as a wake-up call, urging motorists to maintain their cool, and always bear in mind the human lives at stake when behind the wheel.
