He raped and killed 8-year-old Maddy Middleton and could soon be free

A Santa Cruz County court is considering whether a man who raped and murdered his eight-year-old neighbor when he was 15 will be released from prison this year when he turns 25.

Prosecutors have asked the court to block the release of Adrian Jerry Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty in April 2021 to all counts related to the death of Madyson “Maddy” Middleton in 2015.

In a sentencing hearing that began Thursday, district attorneys argued that Gonzalez continues to pose a danger to the public and should remain in custody for another two years, according to local media reports.

If Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy decides there is sufficient cause to delay Gonzalez’s release, The Santa Cruz Sentinel reportedThe case will go to court and a jury will decide whether the two-year delay is justified.

The crime horrified the close-knit Santa Cruz community where Maddy and Gonzalez lived.

Maddy, an energetic girl with a penchant for wolves, was last seen on the evening of July 26, 2015.

Surveillance video showed her riding her scooter through the Tannery Arts Center, a low-cost housing complex for artists where she lived with her mother.

A little more than 24 hours later, a Santa Cruz Police detective discovered her body at the bottom of a recycling bin on the property.

Investigators noticed Gonzalez watching nearby as they searched the trash can, police told the Times in 2015He was arrested the next day.

At the time, he was a rising sophomore at Santa Cruz High School who volunteered at a camp for young artists and was known for his yo-yo tricks. Authorities said they believed Maddy Gonzalez, whom she knew as a neighbor, voluntarily followed him to his apartment.

“I think she had some trust in him,” former Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel told the Times.

According to court documents reported in local mediaGonzalez lured Maddy to the apartment with the promise of ice cream. He then beat her, choked her and sexually assaulted her before stabbing her in the throat and hiding her body in the recycling bin.

Both the girl and her teenage attacker were well known in the Tannery Arts community, residents said at the time.

“We are just devastated. It’s two of our children, one dead and one taken from us,” one resident told the Times. “It’s the most horrible thing you can imagine.”

Gonzalez was charged as an adult with special-circumstance murder, kidnapping and four sex offenses. If convicted, he would have faced life in prison.

But in 2019, before Gonzalez’s case went to court, California passed Senate Bill 1391, that prohibits the state from prosecuting 14- and 15-year-old offenders as adults.

The state Supreme Court upheld the law in 2021. Weeks later, Gonzalez’s case was sent back to juvenile court, where he pleaded guilty to all charges. He will be released from juvenile detention on his 25th birthday in October.

On Tuesday, a clinical forensic psychologist testified that Gonzalez was classified as “above average” risk for sexual assault on one assessment and “medium risk” on the other. Santa Cruz viewpoint reportsThe hearing will continue this month.