A lot of conservatives like to say that gun violence isn't the fault of the guns, but I'm sure people like Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, and others who had access to a firearm during a fit of road rage would beg to differ. It's Eriz's fault that he took 6-year-old Aiden Leos's life as the little boy sat in a car seat while his mother was taking him to kindergarten. But our country is saturated with guns, and that's a problem, too. The Southern California man was sentenced Friday to the maximum possible sentence of 40 years to life in prison.
NBC News reports:
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 27, of Costa Mesa, was convicted by a jury in January of second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle for the May 21, 2021, killing of Aiden Leos.
Superior Court Judge Richard King said Aiden was "a 6-year-old in the back seat, the most vulnerable victim that you can even imagine, going to kindergarten being driven by his mom."
"I don't think the English language can even attempt, for anybody, to even describe what Aiden's mother went through after he said 'ouch,'" King said. "She pulls over, and her little boy dies in her arms."
Eriz fired a shot at the car after his girlfriend, who was driving their car, cut Aiden's mom off on State Route 55. The girlfriend gave a peace sign and Aiden's mom flipped them off, prosecutors said.
Eriz, in the back seat, opened the window and fired a handgun at her car. The mother heard a noise and her son cry out as she was driving away, authorities said. Aiden, who was in a car seat in the back, was struck
Eriz offered an apology in court Friday to the young victim's family.
"He was a son, a little brother and a friend to others. He looked as if he brightened up the world everywhere he went and truly one of God's little angels," Eriz said. "And I am so sorry for ever hurting him, and for the pain that he went through because of me."
"He never deserved it. And neither did his family," Eriz said.
Eriz would have been sentenced to less time:
Eriz would have been sentenced to 15 years to life, but he was convicted of a sentencing enhancement that added an extra 25 years to life, and the judge refused to strike that enhancement.
It appears that Eriz used his girlfriend's gun. I'm not sure.
Eriz's girlfriend, Wynne Lee, has been charged with one count each of accessory after the fact and having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Her case is pending and she has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted on both counts, Lee faces up to three years in state prison and one year in the Orange County Jail, the district attorney's office said.
The shocking violence on the freeway sparked a manhunt that ended with the pair's arrest on June 6, 2021, around two weeks after the shooting. A reward for information had grown to more than $300,000 in the case.
This is Eriz's fault, and he admitted to that. But that was after a manhunt was launched to find him. He pulled the trigger, and he'll pay for that, but the NRA's answer to gun violence has consistently been "more guns." I don't think that is working, guys. There are too many quick-tempered idiots getting their hands on guns because their so plentiful in this country -- and they've been glamorized and politicized.
Meanwhile, another 6-year-old lost his life. And Eriz will be in prison until he's my age (and I'm old!).
