Man accused of killing 6-year-old Aiden Leos will remain in custody without bail
An Orange County judge on Friday revoked the bail for Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, the man accused of killing 6-year-old Aiden Leos in a road rage incident last month on the 55 Freeway.
Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin's decision to set no bail for Eriz marked a sterner measure than the $2 million previously set, which Eriz's lawyer, Randall Bethune, said his client had no intention of posting.
Eriz is charged with murder and discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle, with sentencing enhancements for firing a gun and causing great bodily injury or death. He pleaded not guilty to the charges during a virtual arraignment Friday.
With prosecutors providing more detailed information about the suspects this week, Yellin said he considered Eriz a public threat.
"It seems to me that Mr. Eriz is a complete danger to the community, to society," the judge said. "There is a substantial likelihood of a threat to the public if Mr. Eriz was to get out."
Prosecutors said that within days of the May 21 shooting of Aiden on the 55 Freeway, Eriz brandished a gun at another driver. They also said that upon learning about Aiden's death, Eriz hid the Volkswagen Golf SportWagen that he and his girlfriend, Wynne Lee, 23, had been driving at the time of the boy's death.
Lee is charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact and a misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. She also pleaded not guilty.
Yellin postponed a decision on Lee's bail, which is set at $500,000, until June 25. He requested more background information on her.
Lee's attorney, assistant public defender Andrew Nechaev, requested that her bail be lowered to a maximum of $50,000, pointing out her lack of criminal history.
The Costa Mesa couple were taken into custody almost two weeks ago — more than two weeks after Aiden was fatally shot while riding in a booster seat in the back of his mother’s car.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
