In newly filed court documents, an Orange County prosecutor alleges the couple charged in the shooting death of 6-year-old Aiden Leos were just days later involved in another roadway altercation involving a firearm.
Leos was fatally shot May 21 on the 55 Freeway in Orange, in what has been described as a road rage incident that occurred as his mother was driving him to kindergarten. A 10-page bail motion filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court by county Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky says the suspected gunman, Marcus Eriz, also brandished a gun at another driver a week later.
Eriz, 24, was charged with murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. Eriz’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Wynne Lee, faces counts of being an accessory after the fact and illegally carrying a concealed firearm.
Leos’ mother, Joanna Cloonan, was angry that a speeding vehicle cut her off and so she put her middle finger up as that car passed her, Bokosky wrote. That’s when Eriz is accused of shooting at the vehicle, killing the 6-year-old boy, as Lee drove away.
Right after the shooting, Eriz and Lee drove to their workplace in Highland, where they remained the whole day, and then returned home.
The following week, the pair again drove to work from Costa Mesa to Highland and were again involved in an altercation on the freeway, the motion states. As Lee drove eastbound on the 91 Freeway with Eriz in the passenger seat, a driver in a blue Tesla “did something to make Defendant Eriz angry, acting aggressively,” the prosecutor wrote.
Eriz then took out his gun and brandished it toward the driver of the Tesla. The driver told Eriz and Lee that he called police, then he drove away.
The same week as that second incident, and a week after the deadly shooting, on May 28, Eriz was approached by a coworker, who told him that their car looked just like the one police were seeking in the 6-year-old’s death.
According to the prosecutor, Eriz claims that’s when he looked on the internet and first learned about the boy’s death. The story of the shooting received widespread news coverage, as a reward of $500,000 was being offered for information on the suspects.
Eriz said he “immediately” knew he was responsible for Leos’ death and then told Lee about his revelation, the prosecutor wrote.
He then allegedly hid Lee’s vehicle in a family member’s garage and did not drive it again. The couple instead drove Eriz’s red truck to and from work, using the same route from the 55 to the 91 Freeway, where a banner with the words, “Who shot Aiden?” hung near an overpass that had a memorial for the boy, the prosecutor said.
The two also applied for a new job elsewhere. On June 3, Eriz shaved his beard and started to wear his long hair back in a tie.
Still, Eriz and Lee were arrested at their home in Costa Mesa, authorities announced on June 6. They were booked into jail and bail was initially set at $1 million each.
The DA’s office filed the bail motion Wednesday, asking the court to increase Eriz’s bail to $2 million and lower Lee’s to $500,000.
Prosecutors argued that Eriz is an “extreme danger to the community” and that he cannot control his temper. And although Lee was not the shooter, prosecutors say she still poses a danger to the community because she assisted Eriz in his crimes and she never pulled over to check on the car he shot at, nor did she call 911.
The pair is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, when the judge will decide on the new bail amount.