'I'm Losing My Patience' OCDA Gives Road Rage Shooter Ultimatum

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer issued a stern warning Thursday to a pair of unidentified suspects sought in the road-rage shooting death of a 6-year-old boy on the 55 Freeway in Orange.

The reward posted in the case has swelled to $310,000 thanks to Orange County Supervisors, local businesses and countless supporters over GoFundMe.

Last week, young Aiden Leos and his mother were heading to kindergarten at the Yorba Linda Calvary Chapel school he attended. When a road rage incident ensued on the 55 Freeway, an unidentified person in a white Volkswagon shot through the trunk, killing Aiden while sitting in his car seat.

In the days that followed, the county mourned Aiden's senseless loss. For Spitzer, all patience has fallen away.

At a Thursday news conference in Orange, several people spoke out on the senseless act of violence that claimed an innocent boy's life. His sister spoke for the heartbroken family while the county's top prosecutor gave the woman and man who were in the car at the time of last Friday's shooting of Aiden Leos 24 hours to turn themselves in.

"We're not messing around anymore," Spitzer said. "So you choose door A or door B ... Door A, we listen to what you have to say."

Door B, he explained, involved throwing the book at the killer and anyone who helped him evade justice.

"You've got about 24 hours to turn yourself in, or that door is closing on your future. I'm running out of patience," Spitzer said, adding that "the longer this goes on, the less sympathetic I will be to understand you."

Spitzer said it appears the woman was driving the suspect vehicle while a male passenger opened fire.

Prosecutors in the county have solved cases going back 40 years. He reminded them. Spitzer says that his department "will never rest" on holding the boy's killer accountable.

"To the woman driving the car, you need to turn yourself in," Spitzer said. "You are an accomplice... It's not going to get any better for you."

Then, addressing the killer, he said, "You have to spend the rest of your life knowing you killed a 6-year-old boy."

Spitzer said he would meet with California Highway Patrol investigators Thursday afternoon to go over what evidence they have collected so far.

"I'm hoping I am pleased with that briefing," Spitzer said.

Meanwhile, the reward for information leading to the capture and ultimate conviction of the shooter is growing.

Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner put up a $50,000 match to the family's crowdfunded $50,000 and "it snowballed from there," Wagner said at the news conference.

"This community is coming together to see justice done," Wagner said.

Supervisor Katrina Foley contributed $50,000 from her office's discretionary budget, as well. The Board of Supervisors approved the $100,000 in contributions on Tuesday, and the Costa Mesa City Council is expected to add to the reward when it meets next week.

A consortium of local business leaders, including Bill Skeffington, who owns the restaurant where the press conference was held, have offered up the rest, and he predicted the reward "will continue to grow."

Skeffington made a plea to the woman inside the car at the time of the shooting.

"To the woman driving the car," he said. "Turn yourself in. Todd's a great guy and I'm sure something can be worked out."

Anyone with relevant information was asked to call the California Highway Patrol at 714-567-6000. The CHP also has set up the santaanachptipline@chp.ca.gov email to receive tips. Witnesses may also call in anonymous tips at 800-TELL-CHP.

Another website has also been created to help collect tips from the public www.aiden-reward.com.

"You might be in line for a reward, but you will certainly have done the right thing," Wagner said.

Depending on how information leads to an arrest and conviction, multiple people may share in the reward, according to Wagner.

Aiden's 15-year-old sister, Alexis Cloonan, spoke at the conference with poise and conviction.

"Thank you on behalf of my mother," she said. "Please, if you saw anything at all, please come forward (to investigators)."

Another family member, Carole Ybanez, told reporters at the news conference, "We are holding up every morning because of you all."

She also thanked the CHP and added, "We are a little numb today ... This is truly horrible."

Joanna Cloonan drove a silver Chevrolet Cruze sedan with her son in the right rear passenger booster seat when another driver opened fire between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on the northbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway between the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and Chapman Avenue.

Reyes Valdivia and his wife stopped to help when they spotted Cloonan on the freeway shoulder, pulling her son out from the car's passenger side.

Cloonan described the road rage incident to the couple as her son was dying, saying when she tried to switch lanes to exit, a sedan with a man and woman inside cut her off. Valdivia says the mother "gestured to them and proceeded into the exit lane."

At that time, the unknown shooter fired their car. The bullet entered the left side of the trunk and struck her son as he sat buckled in his car seat.

Aiden was rushed to Children's Hospital of Orange County where he was pronounced dead, said California Highway Patrol Officer John De Matteo.

It is unknown how many rounds were fired from the suspects' car, which may be a newer model, possibly a white "wagon-style" Volkswagen sedan.

If you have any information on this incident or dashcam footage, please contact the California Highway Patrol at 714-567-6000.

The CHP also has set up the santaanachptipline@chp.ca.gov email to receive tips.

Witnesses may also call in anonymous tips at 800-TELL-CHP.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.