Bail was reduced Friday for a woman charged as an accomplice in the tragic road rage shooting death of a 6-year-old boy on an Orange County freeway.
A judge ordered bail reduced from $500,000 to $100,000 for 23-year-old Wynne Lee. If she posts bail, she will be required to surrender her passport and must not leave the state without permission. She also cannot drive, must be under GPS monitoring and cannot have any contact with her co-defendant.
Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, who is alleged to have fired the fatal shot from Lee's vehicle. Eriz remains jailed without bail.
Aiden was shot to death May 21 while riding in his mother’s car on his way to kindergarten. Authorities have said the mother was cut off by another car, prompting her to make a hand gesture. Authorities allege that Eriz, riding in a car driven by Lee, pulled out a gun and shot at the woman’s vehicle, killing the boy.
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Eriz is charged with murder and a felony count of discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, with sentencing enhancements for discharge of a firearm causing death. He faces up to 40 years to life in prison if convicted at trial.
Lee is charged with a felony count of being an accessory after the fact and a misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Lee faces up to four years behind bars if convicted at trial of all charges. Three of those years would be prison and one in jail.
Both pleaded not guilty.
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Lee's attorney Tom Nocella argued earlier this month that, according to the law, his client's bail should be $20,000 to $25,000. Her parents are prepared to post the bail and provide a residence for her, Nocella said.
In agreeing to reduce bail, Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin noted that Lee is not personally accused of committing any type of violent act. However, he noted that even after the fatal shooting, she allowed Eriz to continue riding in her car with a gun, which he allegedly brandished at another car days after Aiden's death. Yellin called her action "absolutely concerning."
Lee was behind the car driven by Aiden's mother Joanna Cloonan in the 55 Freeway diamond lane before moving over to the fast lane and then accelerating at a high speed get in front of Cloonan, prosecutors said in a bail motion.
Lee motioned a peace sign and continued driving, prosecutors said.
A few miles later as Cloonan was attempting to merge over to the 91 Freeway east, she passed the defendants and displayed her middle finger, prosecutors said.
"She then heard a loud bang to the rear of her vehicle and heard her little boy in the backseat say, `Ow,''' prosecutors said.
Cloonan stopped and saw Aiden suffered a chest wound. He later died at a hospital.
