What started as a custody dispute has spiraled into one of the more disturbing criminal allegations to emerge from the social media sphere. Gabbie Gonzalez, a TikTok influencer with nearly half a million followers, faces serious charges after prosecutors allege she teamed up with her father and ex-boyfriend to hire a hitman from the dark web to kill musician Jack Avery of Why Don’t We. The three defendants face up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The case reads like a dark cautionary tale about how personal grievances, cryptocurrency, and the accessibility of criminal undergrounds on the internet can converge into something genuinely dangerous.
A Custody Battle Turns Criminal
Gonzalez, 26-year-old Kai Faron Cordrey, and her father Francisco Gonzalez, 59, were charged Tuesday with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. The alleged plot centers on a custody dispute over the seven-year-old daughter Gonzalez shares with Avery, 26.
According to court filings from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors claim that between October 2020 and May 2021, Gonzalez “repeatedly discussed wanting Jack Avery dead.” She allegedly enlisted Cordrey, her boyfriend at the time, to help find someone willing to carry out the killing. The plan included using Bitcoin and the dark web, with the goal of “making the killing appear to be an accident.”
On April 26, 2021, Francisco Gonzalez allegedly sent Cordrey $10,000 in front money for the plot. Cordrey then transferred the funds to a cryptocurrency account and began using a dark web murder-for-hire account under the alias “LizardKing69,” according to prosecutors. When identifying the target on May 22, 2021, Cordrey provided Avery’s Los Angeles address and stated that he “should be killed by whatever method was easiest.”
The communication didn’t stop there. When account administrators demanded an additional $4,000 in June 2021, Cordrey allegedly returned to Francisco for more funds. Days later, prosecutors say Cordrey requested that the killing happen within a couple of days.
Where the FBI Stepped In
What the defendants allegedly didn’t know was that law enforcement had been watching. On September 19, 2021, an undercover FBI agent posing as a hitman from the group spoke with Cordrey by phone. Cordrey identified Avery as the target and discussed payment and proof of death, prosecutors claim.
In subsequent conversations, Cordrey allegedly stated that Gabbie wanted the killing carried out and that her father could handle payment. Francisco then contacted the undercover agent using the texted password “Bullrun” to discuss a prior Bitcoin payment, according to the complaint.
The alleged conspiracy continued even after contact with the supposed hitman. In October 2022, prosecutors say Gabbie spoke with Cordrey on a recorded call about “how to respond to the threat of exposure.” She allegedly told Cordrey “that she could speak with her father…because he had been handling most of it.”
The Aftermath for Avery
The human cost of these allegations becomes clear in Avery’s own account. He learned of the murder-for-hire plot in 2021 when the FBI notified him that a hitman had been hired to kill him. After Gonzalez’s arrest last week, their daughter was placed with a foster family, though Avery managed to retrieve her on Saturday.
In a declaration seeking a civil restraining order, Avery detailed how Gonzalez’s family members have been calling and texting him “relentlessly” to find out where his daughter is. Two women identified as Gonzalez’s friends allegedly showed up at his Southern California home, “banging” on his door and ringing his doorbell.
The FBI warned Avery it wasn’t safe to be around Gonzalez. Yet despite those warnings and the anxiety that came with them, he continued traveling to see his daughter. “I did so because of how important [my daughter] is to me and out of serious concern for her safety and wellbeing,” he wrote.
A Chilling Reality Check
This case exposes how quickly personal disputes can escalate when cryptocurrency and dark web marketplaces remove traditional barriers to acquiring illegal services. It’s not a new phenomenon, but it remains jarring each time it surfaces: the dark web murder-for-hire market exists because there’s demand, and that demand often stems from situations that started as something mundane, even if emotionally charged.
Gonzalez appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday wearing a blue hoodie and handcuffs, her long curly hair familiar to her social media followers. She did not enter a plea. Her bail was set at $2 million, and she’s ordered to stay at least 100 yards from Avery and their daughter with no contact.
What’s particularly striking is how far this allegedly went before intervention. The conversations, the Bitcoin transfers, the dark web account creation, the follow-ups for additional funding, the recorded calls discussing exposure and strategy. It wasn’t a fleeting dark thought someone discussed once. Prosecutors allege this was a sustained effort over months.
The case hinges on whether Cordrey was genuinely communicating with a criminal enterprise or whether he was scammed by an undercover operation. But for Avery, the distinction matters less than the fact that someone he shares a child with allegedly wanted him dead badly enough to put money behind it.
When custody disputes turn into allegations of murder-for-hire, the entire family structure collapses, and no legal outcome will fully repair what’s been broken.
