A man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for gunning down a 6-year-old boy during a road rage incident on a California highway.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 27, of Costa Mesa, was sentenced Friday for murdering Aiden Leos when he shot the little boy, who was riding in his car seat in the back of his mother’s car while on the way to kindergarten on the 55 Freeway in May 2021.
Eriz was was found guilty in January of second-degree murder and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle.
An emotional Eriz apologized for killing Aiden, whom he referred to as “truly one of God’s little angels,” offering a prayer to the boy’s family, the Orange County Register reported.
“I’m so sorry for putting everyone through this,” Eriz said. “I hurt everyone around me. I am responsible for everyone’s pain and suffering.”
“I don’t think the English language can even attempt, for anybody, to even describe what Aiden’s mother went through after he said ‘ouch,’” Superior Court Judge Richard King countered in court. “She pulls over, and her little boy dies in her arms.”
“The depth of pain of a mother desperately trying to find some way to help her little boy as he lay dying is excruciating,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a statement. “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.”
Added Spitzer:” I am grateful Judge King realized that this wasn’t a horrible mistake; this is a cold-blooded murderer who is more focused on his life after prison rather than the little boy whose life he ended before it even began.”
Authorities said Eriz and his girlfriend, Wynne Lee, were heading to work on May 21, 2021, when Lee cut off Aiden’s mother’s car. She responded by flipping them off.
Eriz pulled out a gun, reached out the window, and fired a shot at the mother’s car that went through the trunk and pierced Aiden’s heart, authorities said.
Law enforcers searched more than two weeks for the killer.
authorities said.
Authorities arrested Eriz and Lee outside their apartment in the Orange County city of Costa Mesa after chasing leads to the white car she had been driving.
Eriz’s attorney argued his client didn’t mean to kill anyone, and didn’t know he had until days later when a co-worker commented that Lee’s car looked like the one authorities were searching for.
“If you shoot somebody or use violence in this county, and you harm an individual, you will pay the price,” Spitzer told reporters after the verdicts were read in January. “Mr. Eriz is looking at 40 years to life. His life is over, and it’s because he took the life of this precious, innocent little boy.”
deadly incident. REUTERS
Lee, who has been charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact and one misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle, is awaiting trial. She faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison and one year in the Orange County Jail if convicted of both counts, the DA said. She is awaiting trial.
With Post wires
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