15-year-old boy accused of murdering girl, 8, to be charged as adult

The murder charge includes special circumstances involving sexual assault, kidnapping and lying in wait, Rosell said.

Neighbors look at the growing memorial of flowers, stuffed animals and notes left in memory of Madyson Middleton in Santa Cruz, Calif., Wednesday, July 29, 2015.

Santa Cruz police said Adrian Jerry Gonzalez lured Madyson Middleton into his family’s apartment from a courtyard where she had been riding her scooter last weekend.

“Justice demands the charges that we filed”, Rosell said at a morning news conference announcing the charges.

“At approximately 7:55 p.m., and this is extraordinarily heartbreaking news that I’m about to give to you, our detectives discovered the body of a young female inside of a dumpster at the complex located behind me”, said Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel on Monday night.

THE 15-year-old teenager accused of killing an eight-year-old girl he knew allegedly tied her up, strangled her, raped her and then stabbed her repeatedly in his mother’s unit and is being tried as an adult. That’s when he attacked and killed her, police said, before carrying her body downstairs and hiding it inside a recycling bin. The teen’s apartment is upstairs from the bin where the girl’s body was found, Vogel said, and investigators believe the body was carried there.

The district is offering counseling services today and Thursday at the school for students, families and staff, Munro said. Enlarge Santa Cruz Police Department Middleton disappeared while waiting for a friend to finish a board game.

“They were alone in the apartment”, the chief said.

“We were looking all day”, he said Tuesday.

Rosell was reluctant to share any details regarding the case, but due to the juvenile being charged as an adult he was able to give the suspects name.

Rosell declined to comment on a possible motive.

There are two buildings at the Tannery – about 50 apartments in each, with about 60 kids throughout the complex. The search was conducted in a very wide area, only to find that Maddy’s body was just inside the complex where they lived.

Residents have been heartbroken to learn he’s suspected in the death, he said. Neighbors who live at the Tannery Arts Center tell KRON 4 they are in shock that a crime like this happened in their tight-knit community. She had last been seen about an hour earlier, riding her scooter away from her home at 1030 River St., according to authorities.