TikTok Influencer Gabbie Gonzalez Charged in Plot to Kill Singer Jack Avery
A custody dispute between a TikTok influencer and a former boy band singer has ended in conspiracy to commit murder charges — and the details emerging from court documents are stunning.
Gabriela "Gabbie" Gonzalez, 24, a California-based social media influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, was arrested last week in Humboldt County, California, while allegedly boarding a flight. She was transferred to Los Angeles County jail and is being held on $2 million bail. Her father, Francisco Javier Gonzalez, 59, a Florida attorney, was arrested Monday in Seminole County, Florida, on an out-of-state fugitive warrant tied to California charges. Both face felony counts of conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder. A third defendant, Kai Faron Cordrey — Gonzalez's former boyfriend — faces the same charges.
The alleged target: Jack Avery, 26, a former member of the pop group Why Don't We and the father of Gonzalez's 7-year-old daughter, Lavender.
A Custody Battle That Allegedly Turned Deadly
According to court documents and law enforcement sources, the alleged plot grew out of a years-long, increasingly bitter custody dispute between Gonzalez and Avery over Lavender. Prosecutors say Francisco Gonzalez concluded it would be "cheaper if Avery were dead" than to continue funding the expensive legal battle.
Court documents allege the scheme involved Bitcoin payments, encrypted communications, dark web research, and discussions of staging Avery's death as a car accident in the Los Angeles area. Prosecutors say Francisco Gonzalez paid $14,000 toward hiring a hitman to carry out the killing.
The plot was never carried out. It was foiled when a federal agent posed as a hitman and got on a phone call with Francisco Gonzalez. During that call, according to investigators, Gonzalez made clear he had made payments and discussed the intended target. Prosecutors say he used coded language during those conversations, including the word "bullrun."
The Nanny Who Warned Police — Years Earlier
One of the more striking details to emerge is that authorities were reportedly told about the alleged scheme as far back as 2021. McKenzie Ferry, Gonzalez's former nanny and one-time roommate, told officials about the alleged plot years before any arrests were made, according to TMZ. The FBI reportedly intended to arrest Gonzalez during a custody exchange scheduled for next month but moved up the timeline after she cut off contact with Avery.
Cordrey, who allegedly served as a middleman in the scheme, later cooperated with investigators and provided information that allowed a federal agent to make contact with Francisco Gonzalez posing as a hired killer. A $10,000 payment Francisco made to Cordrey in April 2021 was described at the time as payment for "web development services" — a cover story Cordrey later told police was false.
Investigators also say the family hired private investigators to conduct surveillance on Avery in Hawaii, where he currently lives, in an effort to gather damaging information to use against him in court.
Who Is Jack Avery?
Avery, 26, rose to fame as a member of Why Don't We, a pop boy band that built a significant following on social media and YouTube before the group went on hiatus in 2022. He has more than 1.4 million Instagram followers and has continued releasing music as a solo artist. Gonzalez and Avery's former bandmate Corbyn Besson — who also has a child with an influencer — made headlines separately in recent months for releasing his debut solo EP, but it is the Gonzalez-Avery case that has now consumed the Why Don't We fanbase's attention online.
Avery has not made a formal public statement, though a person identified in reports as his partner reacted to Gonzalez's arrest on social media with the word "Karma."
Gabbie Gonzalez is scheduled to return to court Thursday. Francisco Gonzalez is expected to be extradited to Los Angeles.
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