YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — The mother of a Southern California boy killed in a road rage shooting remembered him Saturday as 6-year-old with a vocabulary beyond his years who exuded warmth and tenderness.
“He gave us such joy, giving us purpose to our life. I felt so honored to be Aiden’s mommy,” Joanna Cloonan said an open-casket memorial service for Aiden Leos.
The boy was fatally shot in the abdomen on May 21 while seated in the back seat of a car driven by Cloonan, on State Route 55 in the city of Orange.
According to accounts from the mother and witnesses who stopped to help her, another car cut her off, she responded with a hand gesture and the car slipped in behind her and someone inside fired a shot through the rear of her car.
A reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect has grown to at least $500,000, Southern California News Group reported.
“I want nothing more than to find justice, though it won’t bring you back into my arms. My precious son had his life ripped away for absolutely no reason," Cloonan told mourners at Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda, where Leos was a kindergarten student.
Anyone with information was asked to call the CHP at 714-567-6000. The CHP has also set up the santaanachptipline@chp.ca.gov email to receive tips. Anonymous tips may also be phoned in to 800-TELL-CHP.
Another website has also been created to help collect tips from the public — www.aiden-reward.com.