Adrian Jerry Gonzalez, 15 charged as adult over murder and rape of eight-year-old Madyson Middleton

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.

Adrian Jerry Gonzalez is accused of kidnapping, tying up, beating, strangling, raping and dumping the body of Madyson ‘Maddy’ Middleton in a garage recycling bin at the lock of units they lived in at the beach city of Santa Cruz in northe Califoia on Sunday.

Santa Cruz District Attoey Jeffrey Rosell said the severity of the charges warrant Gonzalez being tried as an adult.

“We’re confident in the charges we filed and that’s what justice demands,” Rosell said, Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

Santa Cruz District Attoey Jeffrey Rosell, right, announces that 15-year-old Adrian Jerry Gonzalez will be charged as an adult in the murder of eight-year-old Madyson Middleton in Santa Cruz, Califoia. Picture: AP / Terry Chea Source: AP

“I can’t remember any 15-year-old with these specific charges,” including one count of murder with a special allegation of murder by lying in wait. The other charges include:

• KIDNAPPING to commit another crime with great bodily injury.

• SEXUAL penetration by foreign object of a victim under 14.

• FORCIBLE lewd act upon a child.

• FORCIBLE rape of a child under 14 including sexual intercourse.

• FORCIBLE lewd act upon a child including aggravated circumstances, great bodily injury and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a murder.

“People do things for lots of reasons. Sometimes we understand them. Sometimes we don’t,” Rosell said.

“We are going to bring him to justice and at this point there is no plea deal on anything.”

Last vision ... Madyson Middleton rides her new white Razor scooter in the courtyard of her home in Santa Cruz, Califoia. Picture: Santa Cruz Police Department Source: Supplied

Maddy and Gonzalez lived at The Tannery Arts Centre, a non-profit public facility with around 100 affordable loft units with about 250 residents, 50 of whom are children. The kids are often seen playing in the centre’s common areas including the courtyard where Maddy was last seen.

On the day Maddy was raped and killed, Gonzalez posted a pic on his Instagram page of fingers playing the piano to the tune of Gary Jules’ version of the 1982 Tears for Fears’ song Mad World, which featured on the soundtrack of 2001 movie Donnie Darko, a film website IMDB states is about a troubled teenager plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes. Gonzalez added the caption ‘The Dreams in which I’m Dying are the Best I’ve ever had’ — a lyric from the song.

Gonzalez, who went by the handles Awkward Adrian and Awkward YoYoer on his now deleted Instagram page, obsessively spun his yoyo and asked for updates during the search for Maddy. He was present when detectives found her body buried at the bottom of rubbish on Monday. As he tried to ran away, he was caught and arrested.

Madyson "Maddy" Middleton aged eight, was allegedly raped and murdered by a 15-year-old boy Adrian Jerry Gonzalez that she knew and lured her into his mother’s unit, where they both lived. Picture: Santa Cruz Police Department via AP Source: AP

Gonzalez, a former counsellor at the artists’ residential community, will be arraigned on Friday.

If convicted of the charges, he faces life in prison.