Madyson Middleton loved doing the things most little girls enjoy, like having fun with friends and riding her brand-new scooter. The sweet eight year old, known as Maddy, lived with her mum in The Tannery Arts Center, an affordable housing complex for aspiring artists in Santa Cruz, California, growing up in a close-knit community where 150 people enjoyed eight acres of grounds including a café dance studio and an arts studio.

As good as life at The Tannery was, over the road was a homeless resource centre and a nearby wood was a popular spot for people to take drugs. So Maddy's mum, Laura Jordan, was sure to always keep a close eye on her and Maddy knew not to talk to strangers or to leave the play areas, including a courtyard near her home that was covered by CCTV. "She was growing up beautifully – bright, perky and full of heart," Laura would later say, "She was the best thing I ever made."

READ MORE: Dad Daniel Gunter guilty of murdering two-week-old son in brutal hospital attack

Back on Sunday July 26, 2015, Maddy went to ride her white scooter in the courtyard at about 4pm while her friend, who was over on a playdate, finished off a game inside. Laura regularly looked out of her window to check on Maddy, who never strayed from the courtyard, and the CCTV captured her happily whizzing around on her scooter at 5.07pm, complete in black helmet and purple dress. But when Laura went to call Maddy for dinner around 6pm, she had vanished.

A search party of neighbours spent the evening looking for Maddy, along with the police who'd been frantically called by Laura. But when they'd found nothing by the next morning, a huge search and rescue team widened the search to four and a half miles. By evening, the search had returned to The Tannery and that's when police made a heartbreaking find. Little Maddy's body was dumped at the bottom of a recycling bin at the complex's garages. Santa Cruz District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell said: "Unfortunately, the search for Maddy ended in the worst way possible."

Watching intently, having previously joined the desperate search, was a 15 year old schoolboy and neighbour, Adrian Jerry Gonzalez. When he realised police had made their grim discovery, he ran, but officers swiftly arrested him as his mum looked on, screaming. The community adored Gonzalez, who was known for counselling younger children and teaching them piano and yo-yo tricks. "We love this guy. All of us," said one resident after his arrest. "If you ask us what we think of him, we'd tell you he's an outstanding kid. Our poster child."

Yet the boy's respectable veneer soon feel apart when he told police how events had unfolded. As Maddy was playing in the courtyard, Gonzalez had lured her to his mum's apartment with the promise of ice cream. Once she was inside, he committed acts of unimaginable horror, first taping up her mouth before strangling and raping her. Then he dumped her body in a recycling bin.

Gonzalez was charged with murder and later pleading guilty, he said: "I understand that there is very little I can say after all the pain and suffering I have caused. My goal is to work on my issues, so that no one else has to experience what you have endured. I am aware that does not change the fact that I have brought you tragedy, loss and devastation."

Legal wrangles ensued, meaning Gonzalez was charged as an adult but eventually tried in a juvenile court, with a rule meaning he could be released at the age of 25, after spending 10 years behind bars. But earlier this year, jurors decided he will not be released from custody. Prosecutors urged the jury to deny his release, saying he was still a danger to the community – yet he can still ask to be released on parole every two years.