The Costa Mesa woman who drove the car involved in the road rage shooting that killed 6-year-old Aidan Leos pleaded guilty Friday morning to being an accessory to the boy’s murder.
However, she will not spend time in prison.
Wynne Lee, 26, was driving on an Orange County highway on the morning of May 26, 2021, when her then-boyfriend, Marcus Eriz, fired a single shot at a car driven by her mother. ‘Aidan, Joanna Cloonan, who was taking the boy. in kindergarden. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Lee pleaded guilty Friday in a Santa Ana courthouse to one count of accessory after the fact and one misdemeanor count of possessing a firearm concealed in vehicle. Superior Court Judge Richard King gave him the maximum sentence: three years in prison for the felony, one year for the misdemeanor.
However, she will not be incarcerated, because she has already spent almost three years in house arrest and under GPS surveillance by court order. She was first arrested with Eriz, 27, June 6.
By the state’s count, that gave him more than five and a half years of credit for time served, essentially serving his sentence.
Lee’s conviction left the Orange County prosecutor seething.
“His behavior is despicable and I, along with our entire Orange County community, are outraged that the state legislature continues to water down our laws to give criminals accused of serious crimes break after break,” Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a report.
Spitzer was referring to Assembly Bill 109 of 2011which allows certain offenders to serve time in a home detention program instead of being in jail or prison.
Spitzer said the time spent on home detention rather than in jail was “shameful.”
The fatal encounter began as Lee was driving north in his Volkswagen sedan on Highway 55 near Chapman Avenue around 8 a.m. She and Eriz were headed to work, according to court testimony.
Cloonan was driving her Chevrolet in the same direction with her son strapped into a booster seat behind her. Cloonan said Lee cut her off and then gave her a peace sign, which she interpreted as a sarcastic gesture.
That’s when Cloonan followed Lee a short distance, changed lanes to pass her and gave her the finger.
As the Chevrolet sped away, Cloonan heard a noise that made her think she had hit a rock until her son cried out in pain. She stopped on the side of the highway and called for help. Within an hour, her son was pronounced dead at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Eriz fired a single round from his Glock 17, which he told the court he was carrying because “people were acting crazy on the highway.”
The shot passed through the Chevrolet’s trunk and child seat, as well as the 6-year-old’s liver, lungs and heart, according to court testimony.
Eriz, 27, was convicted Jan. 25 of one count of second-degree murder and one count of murder by shooting into an occupied vehicle. There were also two felony enhancements resulting from his use of a firearm to cause great bodily injury and death. Eriz was sentenced on April 12 to 40 years to life in prison.
A nearby motorist took a blurry photo of Lee’s Volkswagen, leading authorities to search for the vehicle for 16 days.
Eriz eventually parked Lee’s car at a family friend’s house and they began using Eriz’s truck to get to work.
Spitzer accused Lee of duplicity.
“A 6-year-old little boy died, and instead of coming forward while the rest of Southern California desperately searched for her killer, she helped the murderer hide crucial evidence and then continued to live her life as if “Nothing was wrong,” he said.
A call to Lee’s public defender was not immediately returned.
A case is still pending regarding Aidan Leos.
Joey Leos, the boy’s father, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lee, Eriz, Cloonan and his stepmother, Carla Lacy.
The next scheduled court day for the trial is June 25.
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