Aiden's mother told NBC4 she is so heartbroken that she can’t get out of bed, but she gathered the courage to do so for Aiden... to get justice for her little boy.
“We all loved him so much,” Aiden’s mother, Joanna Cloonan said.
Surrounded by her family, Joanna Cloonan told us how she wants her 6-year-old son, Aiden Leos to be remembered.
“It almost felt like he wasn’t human sometimes because he was unbelievably kind and sweet,” she said.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
His life was cut short during what CHP calls a road rage shooting on the northbound 55 Freeway between the 22 and Chapman.
Joanna says she was driving Aiden to school around 8 a.m. Friday when a white Volkswagen with a female driver and male passenger cut her off.
“As I was merging away from the carpool lane, I heard a loud noise and I heard my son say ‘ow’ and I pulled the car over as soon as possible, and he had been shot. I tried to save him by calling 911, but he was losing a lot of blood -- he just didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”
Aiden was strapped into his booster seat in the rear passenger side when the bullet went through the trunk and struck him.
“He was just a blessing, pure blessing to have that taken from us. The loss is unspeakable,” Aiden’s grandma, Mary Cloonan said.
Flowers left by strangers at a growing memorial show how Aiden touched many lives in his short six years, leaving behind his sister, mom, and a father too distraught to speak about the sudden loss.
Aiden’s 10-year-old cousin, Brandon Cloonan also spoke out about losing his family member at such a young age.
“I know when people die from age they lived a good life but for someone to only be six and someone that special to me get murdered by a gun, it just hurts me,” Brandon said.
CHP says they’ve been getting calls from some witnesses, but are asking again for anyone who was on the northbound 55 Freeway between the 22 and Chapman Avenue on Friday between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. to call them.
They also ask if your vehicle has dash cam video to share it with them because any little detail could become a big help in the investigation.
