Pellerin-authored bill inspired by murder of Maddy Middleton makes headway in legislature

Legislation to change the process for convicted minors to have their cases reviewed is making its way through the California Legislature and could become law by the end of September.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 1902, is in response to the rape and murder of Santa Cruz 8-year-old Madyson Middleton by Adrian Gonzalez in 2015. Gonzalez, now 26, was 15 when he committed the crime. It was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee last week.

The legislation is sponsored by former Santa Cruz County clerk and District 28 State Assemblymember Gail Pellerin. 

Middleton’s mother, Laura Jordan, joined Pellerin, Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell, Chief Deputy District Attorney Tara George, Middleton’s best friend, June Parvis, and community advocate Shawna Spaulding at the state Capitol in Sacramento for the hearing. 

Jordan told Lookout on Tuesday that speaking in front of the legislators was intense. She said she was expecting to speak for about two minutes but ended up speaking longer at the request of one of the committee members.

An emotional Jordan held back tears as she spoke to the legislators about her daughter’s affinity for art, her love for her community at the Tannery Arts Center, where she lived, and her loving character.

“It was not something I wanted to do, but I’m very grateful that I did,” Jordan said. “It made an impact. Without victim testimony, it could have fallen flat.”

When Gonzalez was first arrested, prosecutors wanted to try him as an adult, but a state law that prohibits the prosecution of people under age 16 as adults (Senate Bill 1391) prevented it. Gonzalez had been set for release in October 2024, when he aged out of the juvenile justice system as he turned 25, but the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office challenged the release. A nearly three-month jury trial followed from late 2024 into early 2025. A Santa Cruz jury ruled that Gonzalez should not be released from custody.

Pellerin’s bill seeks to make changes to that process. The most notable is increasing the amount of time between extension hearings – from two years to up to four years. AB 1902 would also require the court to state the reasons for its recommended time period, and to base its decision on both a clinical assessment and court evidence.

An extension hearing is requested by county probation officials when an individual is approaching the end of their detention but is believed to still pose a danger to the community. That process is what led to Gonzalez’s 2024-25 trial.

The bill also aims to expand the facilities to which an individual can be admitted, including a state mental hospital. It has not yet been determined which other facilities someone could be sent to, but Pellerin’s chief of staff, Tomasa Dueñas, told Lookout that Pellerin “wants to ensure appropriate treatment at the appropriate facility.”

“I am approaching this bill first and foremost, as a mother and a member of the Santa Cruz community,” Pellerin said during her opening remarks to the Assembly Public Safety Committee. “Shortly after the conclusion of the extension detention hearing, I met with jurors who made the difficult decision that [Gonzalez] was not safe to be released. I spoke with the district attorney’s office about the challenges they faced. And I heard from community members whose grief and trauma were brought back to the surface all over again.”

In a news release, Rosell said, “AB 1902 represents a significant step forward in the protection of victims by making sure offenders receive treatment, are held accountable, and are released only when appropriate.” 

The bill passed the committee unanimously, with one abstention. Jordan said seeing it happen in real time was “exhilarating,” and that it felt as though it was the first time legislators had seen and heard her as a victim. She said the various legal processes she’s sat through since the passage of SB 1391 have been difficult.

“Losing [Maddy] the way I did was horrific enough, but the legal stuff was like acid in the wounds,” she said. “After every step forward, we had the rug pulled out from under us again and added more pain, anger and frustration.”

Jordan said she sees several benefits in the bill. She believes extending the period of time between detention hearings will help not only the attorneys on the case, who will have more time to prepare for a hearing, but also jurors and victims, who will not have to endure the brutal details so frequently.

She also said she believes it’s unsafe to keep Gonzalez in youth treatment facilities, given his current age. Gonzalez is being held at a secure youth treatment facility in Sonoma, where he has been detained since 2023.

1902 as a win for any family facing similar circumstances. She urged the public to spread the word about the legislation. She said the community has started a campaign to encourage people to write to their legislators in support of the bill.

“This isn’t just about Maddy and Santa Cruz,” Jordan said. “It’s about protecting all of California.”

Santa Cruz County Public Defender Heather Rogers, however, is wary of the potential implications of the bill. She said that although she knows AB 1902 stems from “real, genuine emotions and concern,” her office is opposed to the legislation.

“It responds to an outlier case by expanding detention for many young people and allows continued confinement based on predictions of future behavior,” she said, adding that it could delay court review for youth capable of change. “We shouldn’t move in this direction.”

Rogers said that in extreme cases, continued detention can be, and in many instances is, the correct choice. However, she worries that the bill might too broadly apply to other youth offenders, thus detaining them for longer than needed.

“We really need to think about who this is going to apply to, and if people are going to be swept in who don’t present the same risk,” she said. “For me, we need to [protect] due process, even in hard cases.”

But Jordan thinks Gonzalez is beyond help.

“I believe that almost everyone is able to be rehabilitated,” she said. “But not every case.”

Above all, Jordan said, she feels something she hasn’t felt before: hope.

“I’m going through all this suffering for a reason,” she said. “For the first time, I feel like things can get better and something good can come from this.”

AB 1902 still faces a number of steps before it can become law. It goes to the Assembly floor next, followed by the Senate’s public safety committee, Senate appropriations, Senate floor, and then to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who would have until Sept. 30 to sign it into law.

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