SANTA CRUZ — A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge heard closing arguments Tuesday in a case that will send an accused child killer either to juvenile jail, or see him tried as an adult.
Adrian “A.J.” Gonzalez sat still and quiet at the suspect table, his hands folded in front of him, as Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Rafael Vazquez spent more than an hour summarizing the horrific crime that put him there.
The so-called transfer hearing wrapped up Wednesday with rebuttals by attorneys. Judge John Salazar will decide on Oct. 24 where Gonzalez’s case is heard.
Prosecutors are hoping to try Gonzalez in adult court, where conviction could mean a lifetime in prison.
His defense attorneys, meanwhile, say he can be rehabilitated and should be sent to juvenile hall, where they say he would receive treatment and could be released in as little as five years.
Prosecutors and police believe that Gonzalez, who was 15 when the crime allegedly occurred and who turns 18 on Friday, lured 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton into his upstairs apartment in the Tannery Arts Complex with the promise of ice cream on July 26, 2015.
He then reportedly strangled the girl until he believed she was dead, raped her and then placed her body into two garbage bags, and then put the bags into a garbage can.
But Maddy was not dead, and when Gonzalez heard her crying he used a kitchen knife to stab her twice in the neck, prosecutors say.
After that, Gonzalez dumped Maddy’s body in a recycling bin.
Vazquez painted a picture of Gonzalez as an intelligent, calculating predator who planned out the crime to the smallest detail, from the moment he lured her into the apartment to when he meticulously cleaned the blood from his apartment afterward.
He also moved Maddy’s scooter to another part of the apartment to throw off investigators, Vazquez said.
“That is extreme, that is alarming, that is grave,” he said.
Vazquez also pointed to Gonzalez’s apparent lack of emotion after the crime.
“During every single step of this crime he showed no remorse and he showed no regret,” he said.
“This case was a first for this county,” Vazquez said. “It was extreme, it was alarming in terms of what he did and how he did it.”
Santa Cruz County Public Defender Larry Biggam disputed the assertion that Gonzalez is an intelligent, sophisticated criminal.
Instead, he said Gonzalez is a troubled young man marred by years of abuse and neglect by an alcoholic, neglectful, abusive mother who abused methamphetamine and frequently abandoned her son, often overnight and once for a week.
His father was arrested three times in his first 19 months of life for domestic violence, and eventually disappeared from his life permanently, Biggam said.
He and his mother moved 34 times before he was 9, and were kicked out of a homeless shelter when his mother was caught using drugs.
In addition, Gonzalez’s mother ignored numerous attempts by teachers to help him, he said.
Biggam said that Gonzalez was also depressed, and performed several internet searches about suicide methods in the days leading up to the murder.
“Given all this, is it any wonder Adrian is so troubled?” Biggam said.
Biggam described Gonzalez as having average intelligence, but enough so that he can respond to rehabilitation. He also said that Gonzalez has succeeded academically in jail and has participated in rehabilitation programs there.
Biggam also pointed to doctors’ reports showing diagnoses of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism and Asperger’s disease, in addition to immaturity.
Biggam stressed that, under California law, the transfer hearing must focus on the minor, not the crime.
When looked at alone, a crime does not paint a full picture of a suspect, Biggam said.
“A person is more than the worst thing he or she has ever done in their life,” he said.
Biggam also referred to U.S. Supreme Court opinion that minors are cognitively different from adults.
Among other things, this means that Gonzalez lacks the ability to regulate his emotions and control his impulses, Biggam said.
“His mental health issues unequivocally triggered his behavior in the present offense,” Biggam said.
At the same time, Gonzalez’s youth can be an asset, Biggam said.
“Kids are resilient, and have greater capacity to respond to treatment, and not be permanently defined by a criminal act, no matter how serious,” Biggam said.
Outside court, a family friend of the Middleton family said she was not swayed by Gonzalez’s story.
“My opinion is, he needs to be put away for the rest of his life,” she said.
