CA - Aiden Leos, 6, fatally shot in road rage confrontation, Orange, 21 May 2021 *Arrests*

[cvaldez1975]

If he doesn't get convicted and go away for at least 40 years, there's no justice in this state.

25L or Lwop PLEASE.

 

[spivey]

When I heard that they were last seen on the 91, 25 miles from where the murder occurred, it crossed my mind that they could have used the Fastrak lanes on the 91. A move that almost certainly resulted in a clear shot of their plates (if indeed they had an actual license plate rather than dealer plates).

At the time, I thought it was highly unlikely that they used the Fastrak lanes but now I’m wondering if maybe they did.

 

[Mandos]

I think the "aiding and abetting" may also go to the fact that she allowed a person in her car, where she was the driver, to handle a loaded gun, to have a gun in the car without proper storage (it can't be in someone's hands. and it can't be loaded). Gun and ammunition must be in separate locked boxes

The instant the driver knew that her passenger had a gun out, that was already a crime. Instead of pulling over and calling police, she continued to drive.

The driver of the murderer's car appeared to maneuver the car so that he could shoot at the rear of the car. You can't gesture effectively from behind. The murderer had already passed the mom/son car in the HOV lane, IIRC.

That may be on video and it was witnessed at the time. So the driver "aided and abetted" but positioning the shooter behind his target, as well. It would have been hard for the shooter to shoot backwards, plus, that would destroy her car's back window. He wanted to roll down his passenger window and shoot toward his target - which is what he did.

WL helped him find a way to do that, after driving erratically during a road rage incident.

The DA doesn't seem to think there is enough evidence for an aiding and abetting charge though:

Charges filed against Marcus Anthony Eriz and Wynne Lee in shooting death of Aiden Leos

Lee had initially been booked on murder charges, which prosecutors decided not to pursue against her in favor of the lesser charges. Spitzer said the charges reflect her alleged behavior after the shooting, rather than during the events leading up to the shooting, when she was believed to be driving the car.

"We all agreed that with respect to Ms. Lee, the evidence supported a filing of her behavior after the weapon was fired, but not with respect to conduct leading to that event," Spitzer said.

That may change, but proving the requisite intent for the underlying felony (discharge of a gun in this case) in Lee's case is going to be very hard, which is probably why the DA downgraded her charges from murder to accomplice after the fact. We can speculate about the moment Eriz pulled out the gun, but we have no idea what happened in their car and neither of them have any incentive to talk about it.

 

[zleuther]

They're in the fast lane of the regular lanes. Any (imaginary, in this case) car to the left of the double-white shown in upper right would be in the Express Lane(s). The vertical features in upper left sit atop the center Jersey barrier. Someone who drives 91E might be able to identify the general mile marker. It almost seems like there's only one Express Lane here (mostly it's two, hmmm).

Re several previous posts, it's within the realm of possibility that there will be more charges but currently her only felony charge is Accessory After the Fact Penal Code 32. It isn't debatable if it includes before or during (it does not).

Law section

 

[PommyMommy]

JUN 8, 2021
Man charged with murder in O.C. road rage killing of 6-year-old Aiden Leos (ktla.com)
[...]

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, has been charged with murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said. Eriz’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Wynne Lee, faces counts of being an accessory after the fact and illegally carrying a concealed firearm.

If convicted as charged, Eriz could be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years to life in prison, while Lee may face up to three years in state prison plus one year in Orange County Jail, according to the DA’s office.

[...]

The couple on Tuesday afternoon made their first appearance in court, where their arraignments were continued to June 18.

In the courtroom, prosecutors asked the judge to increase Eriz’s bail to $2 million and to reduce Lee’s to $500,000. The judge set those provisional bail amounts until June 18, when the matter will be discussed further.

[...]

Suspects in Aiden Leos road rage death in California are charged (usatoday.com)
[...]

Prosecutors in Orange County, California, charged Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, with murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. He also faces sentencing enhancements. Eriz’s girlfriend, Wynne Lee, 23, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and illegally carrying a concealed firearm.

“With respect to the charges against both, I absolutely am convinced they’re rock solid,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

[...]

 

[gitana1]

They're in the fast lane of the regular lanes. Any (imaginary, in this case) car to the left of the double-white shown in upper right would be in the Express Lane(s). The vertical features in upper left sit atop the center Jersey barrier. Someone who drives 91E might be able to identify the general mile marker. It almost seems like there's only one Express Lane here (mostly it's two, hmmm).

Re several previous posts, it's within the realm of possibility that there will be more charges but currently her only felony charge is Accessory After the Fact Penal Code 32. It isn't debatable if it includes before or during (it does not).

Law section

And only 3 years possible time. Which means she will get very little, if anything. Hopefully she will strike a deal and turn on him. Based on his social media and what he did he was itching to use a gun on someone. So I guess he should be the bigger fish.

 

[katydid23]

And only 3 years possible time. Which means she will get very little, if anything. Hopefully she will strike a deal and turn on him. Based on his social media and what he did he was itching to use a gun on someone. So I guess he should be the bigger fish.

Yah, I suppose that's how we have to look at it...kind of like in the Frazee case, have to accept going for the bigger fish...

But 3 years? She will probably do less than a year, if that...And she drove away from that slaughter on the freeway and tried to cover it up for that cold hearted child killer.

She deserves more than what she is facing right now....but I do understand the concept, of going for the actual killer, to keep him off streets as long as possible.

 

[Finlay]

Not that "after the fact" is a good thing, either. That part, they have her dead to rights, if you ask me.

But she did allow a loaded gun in her car, in a state where a gun may not be any place but inside a lockbox. I wonder if they had friends or family members that knew of his gun habits - he was boastful enough about himself on insta. They probably know how he carried and that ML knew, as well.

I do really want to throw some charges at the driver as well, but unless they do have some dashcam video from another car, most of this seems really hard to prove. How can you definitively disprove a scenario such as the passenger potentially having a loaded gun hidden in the small of his back which the driver wasn't aware of? And how do you prove any kind of conversation that might have taken place between them in the car where maybe the driver or shooter decided to simply get behind the victim's car & "ride their bumper" to intimidate her ... until the passenger - of his own free will - decided to pull out his hidden weapon & fire on the victims? Short of having video evidence of some kind, what happened in that car between the shooter & driver seems to me to be *extremely* hard to prove.

 

[SBops]

Not that "after the fact" is a good thing, either. That part, they have her dead to rights, if you ask me.

But she did allow a loaded gun in her car, in a state where a gun may not be any place but inside a lockbox. I wonder if they had friends or family members that knew of his gun habits - he was boastful enough about himself on insta. They probably know how he carried and that ML knew, as well.

From someone who does not live in the US, that law does not seem to mean much from what I have seen.

 

[Herat]

I agree with Finlay that it is hard to prove the degree of involvement of the driver.

If she is convicted, I hope her name becomes infamous and she is unemployable and shunned by decent people everywhere. I hope her future life is ruined. Although if she was hanging around with the stupid dirtbag, she was losing chance of a happy decent life every hour she stayed with him.

She had the chance to come forward and alleviate the suffering of the family, to express her shame and remorse, by decreasing the expense and time to LE, and to do an honorable thing by not bringing shame to her parents by using their home to hide the vehicle.

But she didn't, did she?

 

[helpfulcharlie]

I agree with Finlay that it is hard to prove the degree of involvement of the driver.

If she is convicted, I hope her name becomes infamous and she is unemployable and shunned by decent people everywhere. I hope her future life is ruined. Although if she was hanging around with the stupid dirtbag, she was losing chance of a happy decent life every hour she stayed with him.

She had the chance to come forward and alleviate the suffering of the family, to express her shame and remorse, by decreasing the expense and time to LE, and to do an honorable thing by not bringing shame to her parents by using their home to hide the vehicle.

But she didn't, did she?

Exactly. Sometimes intent is shown by how you behave AFTER the crime. There may be legal limits to how much time the driver can get, but from my perspective she's in it up to her eyeballs, from the moment it happened until the moment they were captured.

 

[BaffleMe]

JUN 8, 2021
Man charged with murder in O.C. road rage killing of 6-year-old Aiden Leos (ktla.com)
[...]

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, has been charged with murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said. Eriz’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Wynne Lee, faces counts of being an accessory after the fact and illegally carrying a concealed firearm.

If convicted as charged, Eriz could be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years to life in prison, while Lee may face up to three years in state prison plus one year in Orange County Jail, according to the DA’s office.

[...]

The couple on Tuesday afternoon made their first appearance in court, where their arraignments were continued to June 18.

In the courtroom, prosecutors asked the judge to increase Eriz’s bail to $2 million and to reduce Lee’s to $500,000. The judge set those provisional bail amounts until June 18, when the matter will be discussed further.

[...]

Suspects in Aiden Leos road rage death in California are charged (usatoday.com)
[...]

Prosecutors in Orange County, California, charged Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, with murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. He also faces sentencing enhancements. Eriz’s girlfriend, Wynne Lee, 23, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and illegally carrying a concealed firearm.

“With respect to the charges against both, I absolutely am convinced they’re rock solid,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

[...][/QUOT
As there is a Continuance, I am guessing they are looking for more evidence on her charges. So there could be a change. MOO

 

[4mouse]

I've read all the stories, and while some of them say she did that, it has not been established. The reason I write that is because of what's missing -- who is the witness to what (if any) manuever the VW did? The best witness would be the victim's mom but AFAIK her statement was only what she told the Good Samaritan motorist who had also pulled to the shoulder. The newspaper wording is from the Good Samaritan's memory (and very doubtful to have been an eyewitness).

The authorities have a better statement from mom but we don't know it yet. I predict they'll get a statement from the female suspect. The male wouldn't likely say anything about her. There are many other good witnesses, but it can be tricky to investigate.

Bottom line: she's charged with accessory after the fact, and a misdemeanor re gun.

Well said.
There is so much we don’t know.
As much as we all would like to know details, we haven’t got them.
And there is a good reason for that, I am sure.
I think the police have plenty. And they know what pieces are missing and why those pieces are missing.
We will have to wait and see.
But it is frustrating.

 

[zleuther]

bringing shame to her parents by using their home to hide the vehicle

The Whittier house that had the VW in the garage? That's HIS grandma.

On another note we all know the authorities had the address of each of the 140 VW registrations. But they tend to go beyond that -- they woulda looked up the names of the drivers listed on the insurance. So they had her name (mixed in with ~300 others) even before all the tips they got from publicizing the VW photo.

And again, I speculate her parents provided a tip (not knowing if it was her, but knowing she drove that type of VW).

 

[BaffleMe]

The Whittier house that had the VW in the garage? That's HIS grandma.

On another note we all know the authorities had the address of each of the 140 VW registrations. But they tend to go beyond that -- they woulda looked up the names of the drivers listed on the insurance. So they had her name (mixed in with ~300 others) even before all the tips they got from publicizing the VW photo.

And again, I speculate her parents provided a tip (not knowing if it was her, but knowing she drove that type of VW).

That's a far reach for a speculation. We really don't know. MOO

 

[gitana1]

Yah, I suppose that's how we have to look at it...kind of like in the Frazee case, have to accept going for the bigger fish...

But 3 years? She will probably do less than a year, if that...And she drove away from that slaughter on the freeway and tried to cover it up for that cold hearted child killer.

She deserves more than what she is facing right now....but I do understand the concept, of going for the actual killer, to keep him off streets as long as possible.

Cold blooded. She’s cold blooded. These two were a match made in hell.

 

[gitana1]

The Whittier house that had the VW in the garage? That's HIS grandma.

On another note we all know the authorities had the address of each of the 140 VW registrations. But they tend to go beyond that -- they woulda looked up the names of the drivers listed on the insurance. So they had her name (mixed in with ~300 others) even before all the tips they got from publicizing the VW photo.

And again, I speculate her parents provided a tip (not knowing if it was her, but knowing she drove that type of VW).

One of those VW’s is owned by a friend of my cousin. And the guy lives in Costa Mesa, coincidentally! He was worried people would harass him as he drove around.

 

[zleuther]

Thanks, that's kinda why I shy away from some notion of shameful parents. Etc. BF had lotsa social media that was interacted with (is that what friending is? I don't do FB) and it's better for my positive outlook to assume all of them called in a tip, than to assume they shoulda called in a tip but didn't.

People are using the passage of time, about a week, to presume that that's a span of time that had no useful tips.

 

[Periwinkl3]

And only 3 years possible time. Which means she will get very little, if anything. Hopefully she will strike a deal and turn on him. Based on his social media and what he did he was itching to use a gun on someone. So I guess he should be the bigger fish.

I wonder if WL or her family didn't get in touch with a lawyer/LE in advance of the arrest and make it easy for them both to get picked up. She'd only have to gain from that. She certainly has to understand that this has caused them to stop being a couple, so there's nothing more to lose.

Cue the "I was afraid of him" defense. And she should have been.

 

[BaffleMe]

I wonder if WL or her family didn't get in touch with a lawyer/LE in advance of the arrest and make it easy for them both to get picked up. She'd only have to gain from that. She certainly has to understand that this has caused them to stop being a couple, so there's nothing more to lose.

Cue the "I was afraid of him" defense. And she should have been.