Marcus Anthony Eriz, the 26-year-old man convicted of second-degree murder in connection to the 2021 shooting death of a 6-year-old boy on the 55 Freeway, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Friday.
The Costa Mesa man was convicted of the crime and related charges in January.
Authorities in June 2021 said Eriz was in the passenger’s seat of his girlfriend’s vehicle on the freeway when a woman, Joanna Cloonan, raised her middle finger at the couple, believing she was cut off. After that, Eriz grabbed a Glock 17 handgun from the back pocket of the driver’s seat and fired a single shot at Cloonan’s car.
That round passed through the trunk, backseat and a car seat, hitting Cloonan’s six-year-old son, Aiden Leos. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital just 30 minutes later.
Eriz and his girlfriend, Wynne Lee, who is awaiting trial for her charge as an alleged accessory to the crime, were arrested outside their Costa Mesa apartment two weeks later.
A clearly emotional Eriz addressed the courtroom Friday during his sentencing hearing.
“I’m so sorry for ever hurting him and for the pain that he went through because of me,” Eriz said. “He never deserved it and neither did his family. Ms. Cloonan, I am truly sorry for taking your beautiful son away from you.”
The judge presiding over the case had strong words for Eriz, who was sentenced 40 years to life in state prison.
“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,'” the judge said. “She pulls over, and her little boy dies in her arms.”