TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez has been arrested for allegedly attempting to hire a hit man on the dark web to kill former Why Don’t We singer Jack Avery.
The 24-year-old content creator, known for her posts about travel, lifestyle and motherhood, was arrested in Northern California last week.
According to county jail records obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Gonzalez was booked into the Humboldt County jail in Eureka last Friday (May 15). She was subsequently charged in Los Angeles County, along with her father, Francisco Gonzalez, and a Hawaii surf instructor, Kai Cordrey.
All three have been charged for their alleged involvement in the murder-for-hire plot. Custody records reportedly state that Gabbie is currently being held without bond.
Per an affidavit, the alleged plot stemmed from a lengthy custody and visitation dispute over Gabbie and Avery’s shared child.
The influencer’s father, who is a lawyer based in Miami, became “deeply involved” in the custody battle, according to investigators. They claimed that Francisco attempted to “discredit, monitor and remove Avery” from the family.
Witnesses reportedly told investigators that Francisco said words “to the effect that it would be cheaper if Avery were dead”, and had acted hostile toward the singer.
Cordrey allegedly became involved around March 2021. At the time, Francisco started communicating with him about hiring someone to threaten or harass Avery, prosecutors claimed.
Gabbie is said to have portrayed Avery as an “unfit” and “dangerous” father to their child during custody proceedings. She allegedly talked about wanting him dead and discussed hiring a hit man.
Later, Gabbie and Cordrey are claimed to have spoken about using the dark web and Bitcoin to arrange the murder. The pair allegedly said they could stage Avery’s death to look like a car accident.
Financial records state that Gabbie’s father sent Cordrey $10,000 (£7,460) via the Square app in 2021, per the affidavit. It is alleged that this fee was disguised as payment for web-development services. However, Cordrey allegedly told investigators that no such work took place.
Federal agents subsequently enlisted an undercover agent posing as a hit man as part of the investigation, court documents state. Francisco allegedly spoke in code during a phone call with the undercover agent.
He is also said to have discussed previous Bitcoin payments and a fee for after completion.
Gabbie Gonzalez is expected to be arraigned today (Thursday May 21). Francisco Gonzalez reportedly remained in custody in Florida, though Cordrey’s custody status was not immediately clear.
Avery spoke about FBI agents warning him that someone was trying to have him killed in September 2025, when he appeared on the Zach Sang Show podcast (watch above). The singer, who lives in Hawaii, did not publicly identify any suspects during the conversation.
“Two agents, they show up […] Someone hired someone to kill me. Yeah. I’ve never talked about this ever. I can’t speak on it a lot,” he explained on the show.
When asked why someone would want to kill him, Avery replied: “To get stress out of their life. Me and [my child’s] baby mama, we’ve been pretty good recently. It took us a while, but we’re getting there. She had a baby at 17, and I can only imagine how traumatising that is.
“In my shoes, all I had to do was be a good dad. I had money at the time, and was able to be able to afford a child. So it wasn’t that hard on me […] For her, it’s like a whole other thing.”
Avery went on: “When we broke it off, it was like… we just hated each other. It was just drama between kids being like, ‘No, I’m the better parent’ […] We’re working on it now, but for a while I’d been flying to Hawaii sometimes, and I wouldn’t get to see [my child].”
He then described Gabbie as “a great mom, an incredible mom”, and said he wasn’t trying to “shame” her.
US boyband Why Don’t We were active between 2016 and 2022, and have released two studio albums: ‘8 Letters’ (2018) and ‘The Good Times And The Bad Ones’ (2021).
The group went on hiatus due to a legal dispute with their former management company, and cancelled their scheduled tour. They officially lost the rights to the Why Don’t We name in February of last year.
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