California man sentenced to 40 years to life in fatal shooting of 6-year-old boy on highway

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison for the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy who was riding in the backseat of his mother’s car on the highway , prosecutors announced.

Marcus Eriz, now 27, was convicted in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana of killing Aiden Leos in May 2021 while the boy was on his way to kindergarten, the prosecutor’s office said in a press release.

Eriz was convicted by a jury in January of second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied motor vehicle.

“What he took was the life of a six-year-old boy and the sense of safety of drivers around the world who fear that driving on our highways is a death sentence, not because of ‘an accident but because of a bullet,’ Orange said. County Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release.

An email message seeking comment was sent to Eriz’s attorney, Randall Bethune.

During the trial, authorities said Eriz and his girlfriend, Wynne Lee, were on their way to work when Lee cut off the car driven by Leos’ mother, who responded with a rude gesture.

Eriz pulled out a gun, reached out the window and fired at the mother’s car, which went through the trunk and pierced Leos’ heart, they said.

Eriz’s defense argued he didn’t intend to kill anyone in what started as a road rage incident and said he didn’t know until days later , when a colleague commented that Lee’s car looked like the one authorities were looking for.

The shooting shocked this county of 3 million people, which relies largely on a network of highways to get to work and school, and drew international attention as authorities searched for the killer for more than two weeks.

Authorities arrested Eriz and Lee outside their Costa Mesa apartment after tracking down leads to the white car Lee was driving. Lee has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact and is being tried separately.