Tipsters to split $100,000 after helping crack Aiden Leos road-rage killing case
With Marcus Eriz serving a 40-years-to-life-in-prison sentence for the murder of 6-year-old Aiden Leos in a road-rage incident, Orange County supervisors approved a reward offered in exchange for tips that led to his arrest.
Laura Keith, Jesica Rodriguez and Raul Martinez all provided critical information to law enforcement agencies following the May 21, 2021, shooting on the 55 Freeway in Orange that killed Leos as his mother drove him to kindergarten.
The California Highway Patrol served as the lead agency investigating the crime and determined how the $100,000 reward offered by county supervisors would be apportioned among the three.
After a unanimous vote by county supervisors, Keith will receive 70% of the reward. Rodriguez will get 20% and the remaining 10% will go to Martinez.
A judge sentences Marcus Eriz to 40 years to life in prison for firing into a car on the 55 Freeway, killing 6-year-old Aiden Leos, in 2021.
During Tuesday’s meeting, board chair Don Wagner thanked the tipsters, law enforcement and the O.C. district attorney’s office for helping to solve the crime.
“You come after the least of us, we’re coming after you,” Wagner said.
In January, an Orange County jury found Eriz, a Costa Mesa man, guilty of second-degree murder.
Eriz rode in the front passenger seat of a white Volkswagen driven by Wynne Lee, his girlfriend at the time, when the road-rage incident turned deadly.
Joanna Cloonan, Leos’ mother, drove a Chevrolet with her son strapped to a booster seat behind her when she said Lee cut her off on the freeway. Lee flashed a taunting peace sign. Cloonan flipped her off, in turn. That’s when Eriz reached for a Glock pistol and shot at Cloonan’s car, striking Leos.
In April, Lee pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crime and to carrying a concealed weapon in the vehicle. She received a four-year prison sentence but was freed on time served.
Days after the shooting, Wagner and Supervisor Katrina Foley each put up $50,000 from their respective district budgets for any information that could help lead to the arrest of the suspects.
Martinez witnessed the shooting on the freeway and provided authorities with a photograph of the suspect’s vehicle, according to a staff report.
On June 4, 2021, Rodriguez sent an email on her father’s behalf that noted Eriz worked at a Gerber Collision body shop, had an Asian girlfriend and claimed they drove a white Volkswagen.
If you drive Southern California’s freeways, you’ve been cut off, flipped off, ticked off. Be careful you don’t add to the increase in road rage violence.
Keith and her husband worked at the body shop with both suspects. She provided authorities with the suspects’ names, where they lived and information about the Ford Ranger they were driving to avoid developing leads on the Volkswagen.
Twenty-four hours after Keith’s tip, Eriz and Lee were arrested on June 6, 2021.
Foley said during the board meeting on Tuesday that the speedy tips helped stave off the possibility of the suspects fleeing justice.
“The tips provided by these witnesses were literally instrumental in apprehending the suspects quickly,” she said. “I remind the community, when you see something, say something.”
San Román writes for Times Community News.
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