Laura Jordan, mother of slain eight-year-old Madyson "Maddy" Middleton in Santa Cruz, gave her first media interview over the weekend, one week after her daughter's death. The Chronicle tailed her for a bit at the Tannery Arts Center where she lives, and where there was an ersatz three-day wake for Maddy last week in the Art Bar at the complex, which is owned by one of the residents. And Jordan tells the Chron that she had to console her friend, Reggie Factor, who is the mother of her daughter's accused killer, 15-year-old Adrian Gonzalez. She said she told her "I don't blame you," and adds "I just love her, and we both lost our children that day. That’s the tragic truth. I don’t fault her.”

Other artists in the complex are creating a memorial "family tree" for Middleton, and Jordan can be seen covering her mouth and crying as she looked at it over the weekend.

On Friday she had residents across the city of Santa Cruz join her in howling at the blue moon, because it came to her in a flash — as if from Maddy herself — that this would be a fitting, cathartic act, since Maddy was very fond of wolves, and animals in general.

Jordan also says Madyson, who was only child, always got what she wanted, and, "I’m glad she was slightly spoiled because she wasn’t here for very long."

She also implies that she believes that an undiagnosed mental illness was a factor in Gonzalez's actions, and says that if there is enough money raised through a crowdfunding campaign supporting Madyson's funeral expenses, she wants to donate it to a mental health cause. And "she is even considering creating a pool of money in Gonzalez’s name to help youths who might have mental health problems seek treatment." This is despite the fact that Jordan's boyfriend, Kirby Scudder, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that a pair of GoFundMe pages were "unsanctioned" and they'd asked them to be taken down.

Previously: Classmates Of Suspected Murderer Adrian Gonzalez Speak Out, Say He Seemed 'Sweet'