Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, and his girlfriend Wynne Lee, 23, photos below, were arrested Sunday for the May 21 road rage murder of a 6-year-old boy riding in his mother’s car, the U.K.-based tabloid Daily Mail reported on Monday, June 7, 2021 (read story here).
“According to accounts from the mother and witnesses who stopped to help her, the road rage ordeal unfolded when the driver of a white Volkswagen Golf Sportswagen cut Aiden’s mother off in the carpool lane,” the Daily Mail said. “The boy’s mother stuck up her middle finger at the driver before the other car slipped in behind her and someone inside fired a shot at the rear of her car.”
The bullet penetrated into the back seat, where Aiden Leos, age 6, was riding, and hit him in the back. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Police now say Lee was driving and Eriz was the shooter. They became subjects of an intense manhunt, and authorities found them by tracing the suspects’ vehicle to Lee’s parents, aided by an enhanced image of its license plate. They were under surveillance for several days, and authorities publicly called on the suspects — without naming them — to turn themselves in, before making the arrests.
The Daily Mail called Eriz, who worked in an auto body shop, “a gun fanatic” whose social media was “filled with photos of him showing off his guns and firing them at shooting ranges.” Police recovered numerous weapons from his home.
The shooter is someone who, in retrospect, shouldn’t have had guns at all. Shooting at a car in traffic? Beyond crazy. But it can also be argued that this incident, and others like it, are a product of America’s gun culture, which itself is nutty — and baffles the rest of the world.
The responsibility for this horrific murder is, of course, on the murderer. While police believe they’ve nabbed the perpetrators of this deadly road rage incident, at this point Eriz and Lee are only accused, and are entitled to a presumption of innocence until found guilty in a court of law.
The mother should not have flipped them off. That doesn’t make her guilty in her son’s death, or give the road ragers an excuse. It’s certainly not a defense in a court of law. But it’s not a smart thing to do in a high-pressure traffic situation where drivers are stressed, may be angry, and the guy in the vehicle behind you may be an armed gun nut with an uncontrollable temper and no conscience or sense. If someone pisses you off in traffic, do nothing. You need to be the grownup when the other person isn’t. And just assume he might be a nut with a gun who’s liable to do anything if you respond to the provocation.
This is a horrible incident. This is the reason why drivers in Germany are prevented from making gestures or shouting at other drivers. It is certainly curtailing speech. It does not always prevent this kind of behavior and German drivers do give the finger risking the fine. Giving other drivers the finger even when well deserved is probably not a good idea. Using the horn, shouting, holding signs, ect may provoke a reaction. Which is what one sometimes wants when speaking. Not always a good idea when traveling at 70 miles an hour.
This kind of incident can happen anywhere in the world, even places with very strict gun laws. This is about what the Greeks called hubris as much as guns.
Yeah, but you’re less likely to get shot if there are fewer guns and fewer crazy people have guns.