California Police Arrest 2 Suspected of Fatally Shooting 6-Year-Old in Road Rage Incident

Two people have been arrested in connection with a suspected road-rage incident in California that resulted in the fatal shooting of Aiden Leos last month.
California Police Arrest 2 Suspected of Fatally Shooting 6-Year-Old in Road Rage Incident
A tribute for six-year-old road rage victim Aiden Leos is displayed on the Walnut bridge overpass above the 55 Freeway in Orange, Calif., on May 24, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Isabel van Brugen
6/7/2021
Updated:
6/7/2021

Two people have been arrested in connection with a suspected road rage incident in California that resulted in the fatal shooting of six-year-old Aiden Leos last month.

Eriz Marcus Anthony, 24, and Lee Wynne, 23, are expected to be charged with the murder of the boy, who was sitting in the back seat of his mother’s car when he was fatally struck on May 21 at around 8 a.m., the California High Patrol (CHP) said.

According to a CHP statement shared on Twitter by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, Anthony and Wynne were arrested in their home on Sunday. No further details were released about the two suspects, however the Orange County Register described them as boyfriend and girlfriend.

“While these arrests will not ease the pain of a mother’s loss, my hope is for the Leos family to have some peace of mind,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said in the statement.

The CHP “will work with the Orange County district attorney to bring justice for Aiden,” she said.

Aiden Leos (center) died after being shot while being driven by his mother in Orange, California. (GoFundMe)
Aiden Leos (center) died after being shot while being driven by his mother in Orange, California. (GoFundMe)

The pair are each being held on $1 million bail.

“On behalf of Border Division Chief Omar Watson, and the Santa Ana area, we are deeply grateful for the professionalism and tireless commitment of our investigators who have worked on this case from day one to find those responsible for Aiden’s death,” Ray added.

The boy’s mother, Joanna Cloonan, was taking him to kindergarten on the 55 Freeway in Orange, California when shots were fired, fatally striking the child.

“They took my son’s life away,” Cloonan told ABC News last month. “He was beautiful and he was kind and he was precious, and you killed him for no reason. And I want to find them and I want there to be justice to be served for my son.”

Family members of six-year-old Aiden Leos stand at a makeshift memorial on the Walnut Avenue overpass at the 55 Freeway in Orange, to announce that the reward for information leading to the suspects in the road-rage shooting death of Leos, in Calif., on May 25, 2021. (Leonard Ortiz/File/The Orange County Register via AP)
Family members of six-year-old Aiden Leos stand at a makeshift memorial on the Walnut Avenue overpass at the 55 Freeway in Orange, to announce that the reward for information leading to the suspects in the road-rage shooting death of Leos, in Calif., on May 25, 2021. (Leonard Ortiz/File/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cloonan said that she was driving her son when a white sedan cut her off while she was in the carpool lane. Someone in the vehicle then opened fire, striking the boy.

“As I started to merge away from them, I heard a really loud noise,” Cloonan said. “And my son said, ‘Ow,’ and I had to pull over. And he got shot.”

CHP Officer Florentino Olivera described the shooting as “some type of road rage incident.” Family members, according to Olivera, said that a man and a woman were inside the vehicle that opened fire, although it’s unclear who pulled the trigger.

A memorial service was held on Saturday for Aiden.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.