A Santa Cruz County court is considering whether a man who raped and murdered his 8-year-old neighbor when he was 15 years old should be released from jail when he turns 25 this year.
Prosecutors have asked the court to prevent Adrian Jerry Gonzalez, who pled guilty in April 2021 to all charges in Madyson “Maddy” Middleton’s killing in 2015, from being released.
According to local media reports, county prosecutors are arguing in a probable-cause hearing that Gonzalez is a public safety risk and should be held in detention for another two years.
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If Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy determines that there is probable cause to postpone Gonzalez’s release, the matter will go to trial, where a jury will decide if the two-year delay is justified.
The crime shocked the tight-knit Santa Cruz community where Maddy and Gonzalez lived.
Maddy, an enthusiastic girl with a fondness for wolves, was last seen on the evening of July 26, 2015. Surveillance footage captured her riding her scooter past the Tannery Arts Center, an affordable housing development for artists where she lived with her mother.
A little more than 24 hours later, a Santa Cruz police detective discovered her dead in the bottom of a recycling bin on the property.
Police told The Times in 2015 that they observed Gonzalez watching nearby while they examined the dumpster. He was arrested the following day. He was an entering sophomore at Santa Cruz High School who volunteered at a young artists’ camp and was well-known for his yo-yo feats. Authorities believe Maddy knowingly accompanied Gonzalez, a neighbor, into his flat.
“I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him,” former Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel told the Times.
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According to court documents obtained by local media, Gonzalez lured Maddy to the residence with the promise of ice cream. He then beat, strangled, and sexually assaulted her before slashing her in the throat and concealing her body in a recycling bin.
Both the child and her teenage assailant were well-known in the Tannery Arts neighborhood, locals claimed at the time.
“We are just crushed. “These are two of our children; one is dead and one has been taken away,” one resident told the Times. “This is the most horrible thing you can imagine.”
Gonzalez was charged as an adult with murder under unusual circumstances, one act of kidnapping, and four sexual assault-related charges. If convicted, he might have faced life in prison.
However, in 2019, before Gonzalez’s trial, California approved Senate Bill 1391, which prohibits the state from charging 14- and 15-year-old offenders as adults. The state Supreme Court affirmed the law in 2021. Weeks later, Gonzalez’s case was sent to juvenile court, where he pleaded guilty to all charges. In October, he will be 25 and leave the juvenile justice system.
A clinical forensic psychologist testified on Tuesday that Gonzalez was rated “above average” on one sexual assault risk assessment and “moderate risk” on another, according to Lookout Santa Cruz. The hearing will continue this month.