A man convicted in a road-rage shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy on an Orange County freeway was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, of Costa Mesa, was convicted in January of second-degree murder and firing at an occupied vehicle for the deadly May 21, 2021, shooting on the freeway that killed Aiden Leos. Jurors also found true allegations of personal use of a handgun.
Aiden's family did not attend the sentencing hearing. Eriz spoke for the first time, apologizing to Aiden’s family.
Aiden was in the back seat of his family's car riding to kindergarten with his mother behind the wheel when he was struck by a round fired from another car. His mother testified during the trial about the heartbreaking events that unfolded nearly three years ago in the deadly freeway confrontation.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
Joanna Cloonan testified that she was concerned when a white Volkswagen Golf SportWagen cut her off. The driver flashed her a peace sign, which prosecutors said Cloonan might have taken as disingenuous or sarcastic.
A shot was fired after Aiden's mother responded by displaying the middle finger, authorities said.
Prosecutors said it was a gesture she would "regret beyond comprehension."
Eriz was arrested following a days-long law enforcement search for the shooter.
During opening statements, a prosecutor told jurors that Eriz acted callously when he fired a round that went through the trunk of the Leos' car and into the back seat. Aiden, strapped into a booster, was struck in the liver, lung and heart.
Aiden's mother said she heard her son say, "Ow," pulled to the side of the freeway as he was bleeding and flagged down an off-duty police officer. When she looked in her backseat, she said his head was hanging down. Aiden's mother said she got her son out of his booster seat and cradled him, holding his body tightly to try and stop the bleeding, but she says she noticed "his body was dying very quickly."
The trial included the frantic 911 call from Cloonan after she stopped on the side of the road and testimony from the off-duty-officer, a member of the Seal Beach Police Department. Cloonan is expected to testify early next week.
For days after the shooting, authorities searched for a suspect and pleaded for the public's help. They sifted through hundreds of tips and at least half a million dollars in reward money was posted.
According to police, Eriz stashed the vehicle in a relative's garage, shaved his beard and began pulling back his hair.
Eriz and his girlfriend were arrested outside their apartment in Costa Mesa about two weeks after the shooting. Eriz and girlfriend Wynne Lee, who is charged with being an accessory after the fact and having a concealed firearm in the vehicle, are being tried separately.
