SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — Santa Cruz County jurors received jury instructions on Monday for a unique and shocking case involving a man who murdered eight-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton a decade ago.
Adrian “AJ” Gonzalez was 15 years old when he used ice cream to lure his young neighbor into his mother’s apartment at the Tannery Arts Center. The little girl fought back before he strangled and stabbed her to death in the summer of 2015, the killer testified.
Gonzalez was later convicted of rape and murder as a juvenile. The now-25-year-old man has served his full sentence, and according to California’s juvenile justice laws, he is supposed be released from custody.
Gonzalez’s freedom, however, will be decided by 12 jurors. Their verdict has to answer one question: If he is released from custody, will Maddy’s murderer pose an “unreasonable risk of danger” to the public? In the deliberation room, jurors will vote to answer that question as “true,” to keep him locked up, or “untrue” to grant freedom, according to jury instructions.
For Gonzalez’s detention to be extended longer, all jurors must reach a unanimous “true” verdict, Judge Guy explained. Their decision centers on what they believe about Gonzalez’s “future dangerousness,” the judge said.
The jury listened to four months of testimony from witnesses, including several mental health professionals who evaluated the killer, before a prosecutor rested her case on Monday afternoon. Gonzalez testified on the stand for eight days before he was excused Monday morning.
Defense attorney Charlie Stevens and Assistant District Attorney Tara George will deliver their closing arguments on Tuesday morning. Jurors will head into the deliberation room after closing arguments conclude.
Judge Guy said the jurors’ personal bias and sympathy about people involved in the case cannot be factored into their decision. “The law demands that jurors make unbias decisions. Consider all the evidence that was received throughout the entire trial,” the judge said.
During the lengthy trail, George was tasked with trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gonzalez is still too dangerous to be out in any community. She presented witnesses and evidence to show that Gonzalez has a mental or physical condition, or disorder, that causes him to have difficulty controlling dangerous behaviors and impulses.
Psychiatrists who testified for the trial disagreed about Gonzalez’s current psychological state. A psychiatrist called by the defense concluded that Maddy’s killer is “on the lower end” of risk for reoffending, and he does not have psychopathy. A doctor called to the stand by George found that he has “psychopathic traits,” and asserted good behavior behind bars does not necessarily continue once an offender is released from custody.
Gonzalez was called to the stand by his own defense attorney. He calmly and carefully answered hundreds of questions about why he raped and killed Maddy.
“She was screaming, resisting. She was kicking her legs, trying to get up, and trying to fight back. I had my hand on her mouth and neck to choke her. I decided to kill Madyson because I wanted to hide what I had done to her,” Gonzalez told jurors. “I knew that she was a person and she was suffering. I knew the decision I made … was because of my own self interest.”
He used a doll to demonstrate how he folded the unconscious girl into a trash can and stabbed her in the neck to ensure she was dead.
Gonzalez testified that he has become a less manipulative person through years of therapy and sex offender treatment.
Some of Maddy’s family members and friends told KRON4 that they want Gonzalez to remain locked up to protect potential future victims. At a 2024 hearing, attorneys said if Gonzalez was freed from custody, he planned to live in San Francisco and attend classes on campus at San Francisco State University.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — Santa Cruz County jurors received jury instructions on Monday for a unique and shocking case involving a man who murdered eight-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton a decade ago. Adrian “AJ” Gonzalez was 15 years old when he used ice cream to lure his young neighbor into his mother’s apartment at the […]
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