Prosecutors charge teen as adult in death of Madyson Middleton

A 15-year-old has been charged as an adult in the death of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton in Santa Cruz earlier this week, Santa Cruz District Attorney Jeff Rosell said Wednesday.

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.

Late afternoon on Monday, July 27, at approximately 7:55 p.m., a Santa Cruz Police detective discovered the body of Middleton at the bottom of a large dumpster-sized recycle bin on the ground floor of the complex.

Sunday night: Santa Cruz police, a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team and volunteers search for Maddy at the Tannery, along the San Lorenzo River and nearby beaches.

KRON 4 sources confirm the suspect raped, strangled and stabbed Middleton before carrying her body downstairs to the apartment complex’s parking lot and dumping her body into a recycling bin. “It was somebody we all knew”.

“The suspect was actually standing near the location when Madyson’s body was discovered”, police said in a statement.

The residents of the Tannery Arts Center, a building where the victim and the suspect lived, can’t believe the frightful news that has befallen on their little community.

As for a motive, the boy told police that he had been considering suicide and that he had wanted to see how people would react by killing the girl, the source said.

Among the Instagram portraits of him outside the Tannery and showing off yo-yo tricks in an apartment were other, darker pictures and commentary.

“Kinda felt bad for everyone who knew her, her parents, just really sad and I wanted everyone to know that everyone cared, not just her family and friends”, Lorenzini said. He captioned the video with one line of lyrics: “The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had”.

The teen was arrested Tuesday morning and taken to the Santa Cruz County’s juvenile detention facility.

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.

“We were looking all day”, he said Tuesday. “We have arrested and taken into custody a 15-year-old male who was on the property at the time of the discovery”, Vogel said in the report.

He said he noticed him acting suspiciously during the search for Maddy.

“From the community’s standpoint, we mostly feel like these are our babies”, Porter said.

It is likely the child was dead before her mother realised she was missing.

“We are confident in the charges we filed”, he said. “You share the joys of people, their children growing up”.