A man who fatally shot a 6-year-old boy in a 2021 road-rage incident on a Southern California freeway was convicted Jan. 25 of second-degree murder.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, of Costa Mesa, was also guilty of firing on an occupied vehicle in the May 21, 2021, confrontation that killed Aiden Leos as his mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving him to kindergarten on the 55 Freeway.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King set sentencing for April 12. Mr. Eriz faces up to life in prison.
Jurors deliberated briefly Wednesday afternoon after closing arguments, then announced the verdict early Thursday morning.
Mr. Eriz’s attorney, Randall Bethune of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, advocated for a voluntary manslaughter conviction. Jurors were also permitted to consider involuntary manslaughter.
But Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman argued that Mr. Eriz’s actions to grab the gun and fire it out the car window met the legal burden for implied malice.
“This took thought,” he said. “This wasn’t an example of accidental discharge [of a gun].”
Co-defendant Wynne Lee, 26, Mr. Eriz’s girlfriend, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and is awaiting trial. Mr. Eriz was a passenger in the car driven by Ms. Lee when the shooting occurred.
The dispute erupted when Ms. Lee cut off Ms. Cloonan, forcing her to brake. Ms. Lee flashed a peace sign at Ms. Cloonan, who responded with a raised middle finger, according to Mr. Bethune, Mr. Eriz’s defense attorney.
Mr. Feldman said, in his closing arguments, Mr. Eriz felt Ms. Cloonan’s gesture “warranted his Glock response. He was teaching her a lesson he felt good about.”
The consequences “made no difference to him,” he said.
Mr. Bethune told jurors that Mr. Eriz was “perfectly willing to accept culpability for a voluntary manslaughter.”
He said a “heat of passion” killing “does not require anger, rage or any specific emotion.”
“The question for you is was he acting rashly or was he acting deliberately,” he said.
According to Mr. Bethune, the law allows for a lesser crime of manslaughter if a killer acted in an unreasonable way.
“He didn’t have any intent whatsoever. He rashly pulled that trigger. It’s that simple,” he told jurors.
Mr. Eriz opted not to testify on his own behalf.
