SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — A Santa Cruz County juror who served for the trial of Madyson “Maddy” Middleton’s killer says the case’s consequence fails to make sure justice for the 8-year-old homicide sufferer’s household.
Adrian Gonzalez, 25, was 15 years outdated when he raped and murdered the little lady. For the reason that surprising 2015 killing, he has served practically a decade in juvenile detention facilities.
Joan Hoyt, also referred to as “Juror No. 5” in the course of the trial, was one among twelve jurors who determined that Gonzalez remains to be too harmful to be launched from custody. The jury reached a verdict in February, blocking Gonzalez’s launch till 2026. Underneath California’s juvenile justice legislation, Senate Invoice 1391, he may have a brand new likelihood for freedom each two years.
Madyson “Maddy” Middleton
After listening to greater than three months of testimony about Gonzalez’s crime, rehabilitation historical past, and psychological profile, Hoyt mentioned California’s political leaders must reform SB 1391 to maintain offenders like Gonzalez locked up for all times.
“The spirit of the law was probably in a very good place. I don’t think we should be over-prosecuting juveniles as adults. However, the fact that there are zero exceptions to this law, is flawed. I think it’s really obvious that this law is flawed. The state legislature, I’m calling for them to say hey … let’s change it,” Hoyt instructed KRON4.
SB 1391 specifies that, on no account, can a 14 or 15-year-old offender be placed on trial, punished, and incarcerated as an grownup. When he murdered Maddy, Gonzalez was 4 months away from his sixteenth birthday.
Madyson “Maddy” Middleton (Photograph by way of Santa Cruz Police Division)
Santa Cruz County District Lawyer Jeff Rosell instructed KRON4 that SB 1391 “is the worst piece of legislation I have ever seen.” Gonzalez’s case is a stark instance of why California’s legislation should change, the district lawyer mentioned after the jury’s verdict. “There needs to be changes in the law. I think we’ve seen, for the first time, that citizens of our community … are outraged,” Rosell mentioned.
Decide Denine Man mentioned Gonzalez can be transferred from Santa Cruz County to a Sonoma County juvenile detention middle.
“I can’t believe that’s where he’s going,” Hoyt instructed KRON4. “This is a 25 year old man, who we just said is very dangerous to the community, (and) we are now sending him back to a juvenile facility with teenagers?”
Instances as exceptionally extreme as Gonzalez’s case ought to be excluded from falling beneath SB 1391, Hoyt mentioned. “A 15 year old …. who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered an 8 year old, that’s clearly an exception,” Hoyt mentioned.
Adrian “AJ” Gonzalez (File Photograph By Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle by way of Getty Photographs)
For his trial, Gonzalez took the stand and retold, in grisly element, why he determined to rape his younger neighbor of their residence complicated on the Tannery Arts Middle. He lured the 8-year-old lady into his mom’s residence with guarantees of ice cream.
Gonzalez testified, “She was serving herself (ice cream) on the kitchen counter. I grabbed her, picked her up, put duct tape on her mouth. 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.” Maddy was choked till she fell unconscious.
After the sexual assault, “I decided to kill Madyson because I wanted to hide what I had done to her,” Gonzalez testified. “I put her in the garbage that we had in the apartment to hide her body. I grabbed a knife in the kitchen to stab her in the neck.”
Deputy District Lawyer Tara George mentioned intercourse offender therapy applications and remedy periods that Gonzalez acquired in custody fell far brief. Juvenile facilities are unfit to take care of somebody like Gonzalez, George mentioned.
Throughout closing arguments, George mentioned Gonzalez wore a “mask” that was “meant to trick us into believing he’s safe … into believing he’s rehabilitated. Secrets, callous, lack of empathy — that’s all innate in him. He hid who he was (in 2015), and he’s hiding who he is now.”
After the decision was learn, for the primary time in years a choose allowed the media to document video of Adrian Gonzalez. He’s sporting the blue shirt. @kron4news pic.twitter.com/phlO1CDQcb
— Amy Larson (@AmyLarson25) February 20, 2025
One cause why Gonzalez remains to be harmful, in line with George, is his lack of empathy and regret. “He hasn’t shed one tear,” George mentioned.
Maddy’s mom attended the prolonged trial.
Hoyt mentioned serving on the jury was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. You can’t un-see these things. From a mental health standpoint, I’m hurting. I can’t even imagine Maddy’s mom having to sit through this, and then having to do this in two more years.”
Jurors had been barred from conducting their very own analysis into the historical past of Gonzalez’s case and SB 1391 in the course of the trial.
Timeline of Adrian Gonzalez case
July 26, 2015: Gonzalez kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered Maddy on the Tannery Arts Middle in Santa Cruz. He joined volunteer search groups pretending to search for the lacking lady and he handed out fliers. He was arrested a day later when police discovered the lady’s physique.
July 29, 2015: District Lawyer Jeff Rosell made the choice to cost Gonzalez as an grownup.
2018: The California State Legislature drafted and voted in favor of Senate Invoice 1391, requiring all offenders between ages 14-15 to stay within the juvenile system. Regardless of opposition from district attorneys, legislation enforcement businesses, and victims’ rights teams, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1391 into legislation that yr.
February 2021: The California Supreme Court docket dominated that SB 1391 was constitutional and upheld the legislation.
One of many invoice’s co-sponsors, Michael Mendoza of the Nationwide Advocacy Anti-Recidivism Coalition, mentioned in 2021, “Youth have a unique capacity for transformation. Youth should be treated as youth by our justice system. Healed communities are safer communities, and we know firsthand how individuals can change their lives and future trajectories if allowed age-appropriate care.”
Frankie Guzman of the Nationwide Middle for Youth Legislation mentioned in 2021, “California honors the value and potential that all 14- and 15-year-old children possess to learn from their mistakes and grow to become healthy, productive members of our society.”
Could 2021: Gonzalez pleaded responsible to kidnapping, raping, and murdering Maddy. He entered the Division of Juvenile Justice.
2023: DJJ closed and Maddy’s killer was despatched to a Safe Youth Therapy facility in Sonoma County.
2024: Gonzalez aged out of the juvenile system when he turned 25 in October. The Santa Cruz County Probation Division requested the district lawyer to file a petition to increase Gonzalez’s time in custody, believing that he could be bodily harmful to the general public if launched.
Maddy cherished wolves. To honor her reminiscence, a neighborhood resident introduced their wolf-like canine to a protest outdoors the Santa Cruz courthouse on July 22, 2024. (KRON4 Photograph)
November 2024: The jury trial started.
February 2025: Jurors reached a verdict declaring Gonzalez could be too harmful if he was free of custody.
Deputy District Lawyer Tara George, mentioned, “The entire community felt the loss of Maddy Middleton in 2015, and the effects of the crime are still felt. Adrian Gonzalez poses as much danger to our community today as he did the day the crime was committed. The verdict of the jury demonstrates that members of this community will not permit him to be released until he no longer poses a danger.”
Gonzalez was transferred again to Sonoma County the place he’s at present dwelling in a Safe Youth Therapy facility with youngsters.
2026: Underneath SB 1391, Gonzalez will both be free of custody, or the whole authorized course of can be repeated each two years with a brand new trial.
