The courtroom was packed as Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy read her ruling concerning convicted murder Adrian Gonzalez. Silence filled the air as she declared the prosecution—Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy District Attorney Tara George—had proved reasonable doubt that Gonzalez should be released from custody on his 25th birthday in October.
She went on to say there was “probable cause to warrant a trial” within the next 30 days, leaving Gonzalez’s fate in the hands of 12 jurors. The jury process begins Aug. 14.
In 2021 Gonzalez was convicted of the 2015 kidnapping, rape and murder of his 8-year-old neighbor, Madyson “Maddy” Middleton, in a case that rocked the county. Gonzalez—who was 15 at the time—was a babysitter to Middleton and her friends where they lived at the Tannery Arts Center. He lured Middleton into his home with the promise of ice cream and disposed of the body in a nearby trash can. He later joined the search for the child until being arrested for the crime.
At the time of his conviction, prosecutors wanted to try Gonzalez as an adult. However, Senate Bill 1391—passed in 2019—made 16 the minimum age for someone to be tried as an adult in California. Since 2021 Gonzalez has been incarcerated in the juvenile detention system, most recently to the Sonoma County Juvenile Hall.
According to state law, the juvenile system only keeps individuals until they are 25 years old. After that it is up to the courts to decide if they should be released or not, which was the reason for Gonzalez’s latest hearing.
The hearing lasted four days over three weeks, during which time witnesses who have worked with Gonzalez in the penitentiary system gave testimony on his mental health, treatment and current rehabilitation process.
As Judge Guy made her ruling, Gonzalez—who appeared via Zoom from Sonoma—seemed calm and attentive. Guy declined to expound on her reasoning for the ruling, saying she wanted to give future jurors an “independent decision-making process.”
Middleton’s mother, Laura Jordan, as well as her grandmother, Judy Middleton, were also in attendance via Zoom. Gonzalez’s mother attended the ruling in person but declined to speak with reporters after.
Outside the courtroom four teenagers sat on the steps with homemade cardboard signs with slogans “Justice For Maddy!” and “Madyson Middleton Never Forget”.
One teen, who declined to give her name but said Middleton was “my best friend” and still lives at the Tannery. She said she believed the court made the correct decision in not allowing Gonzalez immediate freedom.
“He can do whatever he wants as long as he stays in prison. If he wants to get a communications degree he can do it behind bars,” she said. “But it’s a threat to everyone if he’s released.”
However, she also admitted she was frustrated with the process saying it was “exhausting” for everyone, including Laura Jordan, who she still keeps contact with.
“I’m unhappy with this law,” she said, speaking of SB 1391. “I think people didn’t realize what it really meant when they passed it.”
She went on to say she thinks the judicial system is “too black and white but this is not a black and white issue.”
She told reporters Gonzalez also used to watch her as a child and nobody at the time, neither the children he supervised nor their parents, ever suspected he was capable of something like this. She said he was “always very nice” and “all the kids loved him.”
“He [seemed] super trustworthy,” she recalls. “My mom would see him around us and think it was so nice of him to be looking out for us and making sure nothing happened. But in reality he was figuring out what he was going to do and who he was going to do it to.”
The now 17 year old and her friends also called for more community involvement and pointed to an online petition against Gonzalez’s release that individuals can sign.
One woman, Kim Salisbury, a retired Santa Cruz County employee said she has followed the case closely. She told reporters she only knew the Middleton family “in passing,” and once met Gonzalez and his mother at a trash clean up around the San Lorenzo Levee.
“The mom made all this food, which I thought was very sweet,” Salisbury said. “He was stand-offish but that’s not unusual for 15 year olds so there were no red flags.”
Salisbury said she is hopeful once prospective jurors hear the specifics of the case and Gonzalez’s crime, they will decide he should remain incarcerated.
“Other states with similar cases and don’t have the rules we have [in California], have tried them as adults and kept them in custody. Some even get a life sentence. That’s my hope.”
If a jury decides against Gonzalez’s release he will be held in prison for another two years. After that the District Attorney can petition to block his release again.
