Crime & Safety
Woman Guilty In Kindergartner's Road Rage Slaying Won't Serve Time
The 26-year-old woman was driving during the road-rage confrontation that ended with her boyfriend firing a shot into another car in OC.
COSTA MESA, CA — A 26-year-old woman who was behind the wheel during a road-rage confrontation on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway that ended with her boyfriend firing a shot into another car, killing a 6-year-old boy, pleaded guilty Friday to being an accessory to the crime and carrying a concealed weapon in the vehicle.
Costa Mesa resident Wynne Lee was immediately sentenced to four years behind bars, but with custody credits and time she has spent on home confinement, Lee has already served out her sentence, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
RELATED: Gunman In Road Rage Shooting That Killed Child On SoCal Freeway Sentenced
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On April 12, 26-year-old Marcus Anthony Eriz, Costa Mesa resident and Lee's boyfriend, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for firing the shot that killed Aiden Leos on May 21, 2021 while he was being driven to kindergarten by his mother.
Eriz was convicted in January of second-degree murder and firing at an occupied vehicle. Jurors also found true allegations of personal use of a handgun.
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RELATED: Man Who Opened Fire At Car, Killing Kindergartner, Convicted In OC
Aiden's mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving her Chevrolet Sonic with the child strapped into a child seat in the back seat of the vehicle, taking the boy to kindergarten in Yorba Linda. At about 8 a.m., She and her son were cut off by the defendants in a Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen with Lee behind the wheel of the car.
Lee made a peace sign, which Cloonan took as sarcastic, and a few miles later as she was merging over to the Riverside (91) Freeway east, she passed the defendants and gave them a middle finger, Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman said during opening statements of Eriz's trial.
Lee then positioned their car behind Cloonan's, and Eriz fired a shot from a 9mm Glock that struck the Chevrolet, went into the passenger compartment and hit the boy.
Cloonan, who was northbound on the freeway, heard a loud bang that sounded like a rock striking her vehicle followed by her son's cry, Feldman said. She immediately pulled over, the prosecutor added.
Her son, who had turned 6 a week and a half before the shooting, was bleeding from a bullet that ripped through his liver, lungs and his heart before coming out of his abdomen, Feldman said. The boy died in her arms.
Lee and Eriz, who lived together in a Costa Mesa apartment, were driving to their workplace at Gerber Glass, a collision repair shop, Feldman said. Eriz kept his loaded 9 mm gun in the car.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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