Adrian "A.J." Gonzalez, who was 15 when he confessed to the sexual assault and killing of his 8-year-old neighbor Madyson "Maddy" Middleton in 2015 in a Santa Cruz apartment complex where they both lived with their parents, never stood trial for the murder. But that is about to change.

A judge heard arguments last month about the potential release of Gonzalez — something that is possible under California law when a juvenile offender was convicted, and later turns 25 in jail. There are exceptions, however, for those who are incarcerated and may remain a danger to the public, and Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy ruled Tuesday that this is the case with Gonzalez.

Although, because Gonzalez never stood trial for his crimes — he was in legal limbo due to his age and defense attorneys' objections to trying him as an adult, but he ultimately pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced — Guy ruled that this should take place, in order to allow a jury to decide his culpability, and whether he has been rehabilitated in his nine years behind bars.

As KRON4 reports, Judge Guy ruled that Gonzalez should stand trial within the next 30 days. Gonzalez was reportedly watching the proceedings via Zoom from a Sonoma County correctional facility where he is currently incarcerated.

Guy reportedly issued a terse ruling, declining give details about why she made her decision, per KRON4. "That way there will be no information for jurors to adopt in their decisions," Guy said.

The crime was one of the more grotesque and shocking murders in the Bay Area in recent decades, and made national headlines when it occurred in July 2015 — in part because of a frantic search that lasted almost 24 hours for the missing girl. Middleton's body was ultimately found in a dumpster on the property of the Tannery Arts Center complex where both of the children's families lived.

As lawyers retold the story in the hearing last month, per KRON4, Gonzalez confessed to wanting to kill and assault the girl in order to experience sexual gratification before he took in his own life. He had been experiencing depression and suicidal ideation for months, according to public defender Athena Reis, and he didn't expect to be alive long enough to face consequences for his crimes.

Reis argued, though, that Gonzalez is "simply not the same person he was nine years ago," and "He’s worked hard to become a healthy and safe person."

Prosecutor Tara George argued that Gonzalez could very well be a danger, and that he maybe just learned how to "check all the boxes" in an "institutional setting" to indicate good behavior.

"Nobody has seen a person like Adrian before. Nobody has seen a case like this before. Adrian went from zero to 100, and there is not one person who can say why," George argued at last month's hearing. George further argued that most of his counseling in prison had focused on the sexual aspect of his crime, and not on the violence.

George retold the story of how Gonzalez lured Middleton to his family's apartment with the promise of ice cream, and that he attacked her while she was scooping ice cream, proceeding to strangle her for 30 minutes. Thinking she was dead, he reportedly assaulted her, and then put her body in a trash bag. When he heard her still moaning, he stabbed her in the neck multiple times.

"Based on his mental conditions, he is physically dangerous to the public," George argued.

30 days seems like a quick turnaround time for a murder trial, and perhaps there will be motions for more time — though much of the evidence in the case and Gonzalez's confession have been well known now for nine years.

Gonzalez turns 25 in October, and part of his hearing last month included counselors at Larkin Street Youth Services and another transitional program in San Francisco, where Gonzalez said he plans to move to attend college if he gets released.

Previously: Adrian Gonzalez, Confessed Murderer of 8-Year-Old Maddy Middleton in 2015, Pleads Guilty