A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence that the man who raped and killed 8-year-old Madyson (Maddy) Middleton in 2015 would pose a continued danger to the public if he is released.
Adrian Jerry (A.J.) Gonzalez, now 24, now faces a trial beginning Aug. 19, when a jury will consider the same question.
Gonzalez was tried and convicted as a juvenile, and sentenced in April 2021.
But a state law passed in 2019—Senate Bill 1391—prohibits anyone 15 or younger from being prosecuted as adults, regardless of the crime.
Because Gonzalez was 15 when the crime occurred, he is eligible to be released when he turns 25 in October.
In Gonzalez’s case, prosecutors and probation officials—along with several community members—are opposing his release, which will require the unusual step of asking a jury to decide on a juvenile matter, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy said.
“This is something unique,” she said.
The murder happened on July 25, 2015 at Tannery Artist Lofts in Santa Cruz where Maddy and Gonzalez lived, when he lured the girl to his apartment with the promise of ice cream, attacked her from behind, bound her with duct tape and choked her into unconsciousness before raping her and then stabbing her in the neck when he realized she wasn’t dead yet.
He then dumped her body in a recycling bin at the Tannery site and later joined the search that was going on outside.
Outside the courthouse, a woman who described herself as Maddy’s best friend—who asked not to be named—said the legal process has been “exhausting.”
“It just feels like it’ll never be over,” she said.
The friend also said she feels especially sad for Maddy’s mother, who has closely followed the case and heard every detail.
“She can just never have peace, and none of us can,” the friend said, adding that she doubts claims by Gonzalez’s attorneys that Gonzalez is doing well in custody and is ready for release.
“He is so good at pretending he is a model citizen, and I’m sure he is a very good actor at pretending he has been rehabilitated,” she said.
Gonzalez often babysat the kids in the complex, the friend said, and was a well-liked and trusted member of the community.
The crime came as a shock to everyone, the friend said, which became more pronounced during the trial when a shocking revelation arose.
“In his first trial he mentioned that he would have preferred it to be me because I was smaller and easier to subdue,” she said.
Gonzalez, the friend said, would pose a threat to everyone if he is released. If his bid for freedom is denied in the trial, she plans to protest when he is eligible after two years, and every two years after that.
“…It feels like it will never stop, and the whole community wants peace, and it sounds like it will keep going on,” she said. “We’ll just have to keep fighting until eventually everyone is too tired and there is nobody to fight except for his advocates, and that is just so dangerous.”
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