SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — A Costa Mesa couple who were ordered last month to stand trial in connection with the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy on a freeway in Costa Mesa, allegedly in a road rage incident, pleaded not guilty again Tuesday.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 25, and Wynne Lee, 23, were both held to answer on charges following a preliminary hearing March 30. They were ordered to return to court June 24 for a pretrial hearing before Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, where the two will go on trial.
Eriz is accused of fatally shooting Aiden Leos on the northbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway on May 21. Lee is accused of being an accessory after the fact.
California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Futrell testified at the preliminary hearing how Eriz, who has a long beard and did so at the time of the shooting, shaved after the incident.
Futrell testified the two got into a road-rage dispute with Aiden’s mother on the freeway, which led to Eriz allegedly firing a shot into the rear of the vehicle.
The bullet ripped through the trunk and struck Aiden, who was in a car seat on the rear passenger side of his mother’s car.
Aiden’s mother, Joanna Cloonan, was taking her son to kindergarten in her Chevrolet Sonic about 8 a.m. when she was cut off by the defendants, who were in a Volkswagen Golf SportWagen, according to authorities.
Lee, who was driving, swung over out of the diamond lane to the fast lane, punched the gas and then pulled in front of Cloonan, prosecutors said.
Lee made a peace sign to Cloonan, Futrell testified.
When Cloonan was further north, maneuvering to merge toward the eastbound Riverside (91) Freeway, she passed the defendants and flipped them off with the middle finger, Futrell testified.
She heard her son say “Ow,” and immediately pulled over to see that Aiden suffered a chest wound, prosecutors said. The boy was pronounced dead later that morning in a hospital.
Lee’s attorney, Tom Nocella, said his client never made any attempt to change her appearance or evade authorities, but Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman argued she understood she was helping her boyfriend in covering up the crime by taking the car, which authorities were looking for, and leaving it a relative’s home so they could use a different car.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin said, “It does appear to the court the felonies and misdemeanors have been committed,” and ordered the two to stand trial.
Eriz is charged with second-degree murder and a felony count of discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, with sentencing enhancements for discharge of a firearm causing death. He faces up to 40 years to life in prison if convicted.
Lee faces up to four years behind bars if convicted of a felony count of being an accessory after the fact and a misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Three of those years would be in prison and one in jail.