MARCUS ERIZ (left) and Wynne Lee (Orange County District Attorney photos).

A three-and-a-half-year tragedy and trial came to a conclusion in Orange County on Thursday.

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, of Costa Mesa was convicted of murder for shooting and killing a 6-year-old boy on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway on May 21, 2021.

A jury convicted him of one felony count of second-degree murder, one felony count of shooting into an occupied vehicle, and two felony enhancements of the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 12, 2024.

The driver of the Volkswagen Sportswagen, Wynne Lee, 26, of Costa Mesa, has been charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact and one misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. She faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison and one year in the Orange County Jail if convicted on all charges.

Lee is awaiting trial on the charges filed against her.  She remains out of custody on GPS monitoring after posting a $100,000 bond in July 2021.

Just after 8 a.m. on Friday, May 21, 2021, 6-year-old Aiden Leos was shot and killed while in the back seat of his mother’s car while driving northbound on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway near Chapman Avenue following a road rage incident. Leos was on his way to kindergarten at Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda.

Leos’ mother testified at trial that she had flipped the driver of the Volkswagen Sportswagen off after the driver cut her off. After driving away, she said she heard a large noise and heard her son say, “ow,” before pulling over the side of the freeway and pulling Aiden out of his car seat and calling 911.
Aiden later died at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange.

The California Highway Patrol launched an intense manhunt for the shooter that spanned Southern California, including issuing a public plea for tips about the whereabouts of the suspects’ 2018/2019 white Volkswagen Sportswagen. Eriz and Lee were arrested by the California Highway Patrol on Sunday, June 6, 2021.

Lee is awaiting trial on the charges filed against her.  She remains out of custody on GPS monitoring after posting a $100,000 bond in July 2021.