Investigators ask anyone who may have been threatened by a Costa Mesa gun enthusiast charged with fatally shooting a 6-year-old boy in May on the 55 Freeway to report the incidents to law enforcement authorities.
Prosecutors said Marcus Anthony Eriz, a 24-year-old auto body technician, became angry when the boy’s mother flashed her middle finger at him and his girlfriend, 23-year-old Wynne Lee following a lane-change dispute on the freeway in Orange on May 21.
Eriz then rolled down the passenger-side window of the white Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen he was riding in and opened fire with a 9-mm handgun, according to court records.
In the days that followed, Eriz shaved his beard and began driving a red truck to work, instead of the white wagon that became the subject of a two-week long manhunt. But he was apparently unable to conceal his temper, prosecutors say, and is suspected of brandishing a firearm at the driver of a blue Tesla during a separate road rage incident that took place just days later on the 91 Freeway near Corona, between May 24 and May 28.
No other reports of specific incidents involving the alleged shooter were reported as of Saturday, but prosecutors believe it is possible Eriz may have been involved in other, similar altercations. They asked any motorist who may have been confronted by someone with a gun in a white VW Golf Sportwagen between December and June to reach out via a tip line set up by the Orange County District Attorney’s office. Potential witnesses or victims can submit information by calling 714-834-7000 or by sending an email to tips@da.ocgov.com.
Eriz and Lee were arrested in connection with Aiden Leos’s killing on Sunday, June 6, and both remained in custody as of June 19 after pleading not guilty to charges associated with the shooting. Eriz is being held without bail.
He has been charged with one felony count of murder, one felony count of shooting into anoccupied vehicle, and two felony enhancements of the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in state prison if convicted on all counts.
Lee, who was driving the Volkswagen and is charged with being an accessory after the fact and having a concealed firearm in a vehicle, was held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Source: Orange County Register
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