SANTA ANA, Calif. – A judge has ordered a Costa Mesa couple to stand trial in the murder of a 6-year-old boy during a road rage incident on the 55 freeway last May. The 23-year-old driver of getaway vehicle has been charged with being an accessory after the fact and having a concealed weapon in her vehicle.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 25, of Costa Mesa, has been charged with one felony count of murder, one felony count of shooting into an occupied vehicle, and one 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 if convicted on all counts.
Wynne Lee, 23, 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.
Eriz is currently being held without bail. Lee was released on electronic monitoring.
Lee and Eriz are scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. on April 12, 2022 in Department C5 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
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 on the 55 freeway near Chapman Avenue following a road rage incident. Leos was on his way to kindergarten at Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda.
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 Sportwagen.
Eriz and Lee were arrested by the California Highway Patrol on Sunday, June 6, 2021.
“A monster with a gun murdered a little boy on his way to kindergarten – because he was cut off on the freeway,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The callousness of this crime is unspeakable, but the fact that this couple continued to hide out in plain sight knowing full well they killed a 6-year-old child while Aiden’s grieving parents pleaded with the killers to come forward is unforgivable. I made it very clear that they needed to turn themselves in and I would take that into consideration and they continued to hide. I’m extremely grateful to the CHP and their investigators who worked tirelessly to solve this case. Together, we will never stop fighting for justice for Aiden and hold this coldblooded killer accountable.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
