A California jury is set to determine if a man who brutally raped and murdered his eight-year-old neighbor could be released from jail just three years after he was sentenced.
Adrian Jerry ‘AJ’ Gonzalez, 25, was 15 years old when he lured Madyson ‘Maddy’ Middleton into his mother’s apartment with promises of ice cream before strangling, stabbing and raping her in 2015.
The killer then wrapped her body in plastic bags and threw it in a dumpster outside the Santa Cruz apartment complex where they both lived.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty in juvenile court in 2021 and was set to be freed back in October due to a law known as Proposition 57, which allows criminals convicted in juvenile court to be automatically eligible for parole when they turn 25.
In Gonzalez’s case, the problem was compounded by a 2019 California Senate Bill called SB 1391 that extended Prop 57 and ruled that no one who committed a crime under the age of 16 can be tried in adult court.
That meant Gonzalez’s 2021 trial had to be held in juvenile court even though he was 21 by then – and he could only be sentenced to a maximum of three years.
However, before his 25th birthday, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office petitioned Superior Court Judge Denine Guy to keep Gonzalez locked up because he may be a danger to society, reported the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
The judge ruled prosecutors had shown probable cause for a trial in August – with prosecutors tasked to prove he is too dangerous – and the trial began in November.
Assistant District Attorney Tara George said psychologists who evaluated Gonzalez reported having ‘never seen a crime like this committed by somebody of his age,’ according to Lookout Santa Cruz.
George called Gonzalez a ‘master at deception’ who ‘has no emotion, sheds no tears, there is no regret, and no remorse.’
Gonzalez’s defense attorney, Charlie Stevens, argued he had an unstable and abusive childhood filled with neglect, and he grew into a suicidal teenager, the local news outlet reported.
The trial resumed after a month-long break on January 21, and the defense put experts on the stand to testify about Gonzalez’s mental health and social history.
Retired public defender investigator Catherine Johnson Gonzalez’s mother, Reggie Factor, struggled with addiction and abuse at the hands of Gonzalez’s father and the other men she would bring into his life.
Two psychologists, Dr. Roger Karlsson and Dr. Richard Shaw, testified to believing Gonzalez may be on the autism spectrum, reported KRON 4.
The trial is set to resume on Tuesday. Even if the jury finds he is not yet ready for release, under Prop 57, he has an unlimited number of attempts at parole, which means he could make another bid for freedom in two years.
The Gonzalez case sent shockwaves through the Santa Cruz community, with locals saying both Gonzalez and Madyson were known in the area.
Maddy was last seen on the evening of July 26, 2015, riding her scooter through the Tannery Arts Center housing complex, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A day later, detectives discovered her body at the bottom of a recycling bin on the property as Gonzalez watched nearby.
One resident at the time told the LA Times that the case was ‘devastating.’
‘These are two of our kids, and one is dead and one has been taken away,’ they said. ‘This is the most horrible thing you can imagine.’