A custody dispute over a seven-year-old girl. A dad who happens to be a Florida attorney. A dark web hitman marketplace. A codeword: “Bullrun.” And a 24-year-old TikTok influencer with nearly a million followers who prosecutors say wanted the father of her child dead.
This isn’t a Netflix pitch. It’s the actual criminal case now unfolding in a Los Angeles courtroom against Gabbie Gonzalez, the social media personality who built a brand around lifestyle content, travel videos, and motherhood. She’s been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. So have her father and her ex-boyfriend. If convicted, all three face 25 years to life in state prison.
Who Is Gabbie Gonzalez?
Gabriela Lauren Gonzalez, who goes by Gabbie online, is a 24-year-old content creator with close to half a million followers each on TikTok and Instagram. Her content was the kind you’ve scrolled past a thousand times: daily life updates, travel clips, and posts about being a young mom. She had a daughter named Lavender with Jack Avery, a singer and former member of the boy band Why Don’t We.
Avery, now 26, has his own sizable following, with more than 1.4 million Instagram followers. The two were co-parenting their daughter while locked in a custody battle that, according to court documents, had been going on for years. That dispute is what prosecutors say drove everything that came next.
Gonzalez was arrested on Friday, May 15, 2026, in Humboldt County, California. According to reports, she was boarding a flight when law enforcement took her into custody. She was transferred to a Los Angeles County jail and appeared in a downtown L.A. courtroom the following Tuesday in a blue hoodie and handcuffs. She did not enter a plea. Bail was set at $2 million.
The Alleged Plot: Dark Web, Bitcoin, and a Codeword
Prosecutors paint a picture of a conspiracy that stretched from late 2020 into 2022 and involved three people: Gabbie Gonzalez, her father Francisco Gonzalez (a 59-year-old attorney based in Seminole County, Florida), and her then-boyfriend Kai Faron Cordrey, a 26-year-old surf instructor from Hawaii.
According to the felony complaint, Gabbie “repeatedly discussed wanting Jack Avery dead” between October 2020 and May 2021. She allegedly recruited Cordrey to help find a hitman on the dark web. Cordrey reportedly created an account on a dark web murder-for-hire site using the alias “LizardKing69.”
By May 22, 2021, Cordrey had allegedly identified Avery as the target on the platform, provided a Los Angeles address, and stated that Avery “should be killed by whatever method was easiest.” Prosecutors say the plan included making the killing look like a car accident.
The money allegedly came from Gabbie’s father. In April 2021, Francisco Gonzalez reportedly sent Cordrey $10,000 as front money to locate and pay a contract killer. The payments were disguised as “web-development payments,” according to investigators. Two months later, when the alleged hitman requested more money, Francisco allegedly sent another $4,000, bringing the total to $14,000.
According to investigators, Cordrey moved the funds into a Gemini cryptocurrency account and used Bitcoin to make payments on the dark web platform.
The FBI Got Involved
The plot never got close to being carried out. It was foiled by an undercover law enforcement officer who posed as a hitman.
In September 2021, the undercover federal agent spoke with Cordrey by phone. During that conversation, Cordrey allegedly confirmed Avery was the target, discussed how payment would work, and talked about what kind of “proof of death” they expected. He also reportedly asked for Avery to be killed within 48 hours.
In a follow-up conversation, Cordrey allegedly told the agent that Gabbie wanted the murder carried out and that her father could pay for it. Francisco Gonzalez then reportedly contacted the undercover operative himself, using the texted password “Bullrun” to verify his identity and reference a prior Bitcoin transaction.
More than a year later, on October 20, 2022, Gabbie and Cordrey spoke on a recorded phone call. Prosecutors say they discussed their communications with the supposed hitman and how to respond to “the threat of exposure.” During that call, Gabbie allegedly told Cordrey she could talk to her father about it because “he had been handling most of it.”
A Father Who Allegedly Bankrolled the Whole Thing
Francisco Gonzalez isn’t some random bystander in this case. He’s a practicing attorney in Central Florida, and prosecutors describe him as the financial engine behind the entire plot. His law firm had no comment on the charges.
Beyond the alleged payments to Cordrey, court documents say Francisco hired a private investigator to surveil Jack Avery in Hawaii, where Avery lives. The goal was reportedly to gather footage of Avery drinking, smoking, or doing anything that could be used against him in the custody case. Investigators described Francisco as being “deeply involved” in the custody conflict and in efforts to remove Avery from his daughter’s life.
One witness told police that Francisco was heard saying it would be “cheaper if Avery were dead” than to keep paying for the expensive custody battle.
L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman didn’t hold back in his statement: “Most fathers raise their children to respect the law, but here we have a dad who allegedly helped his daughter and her boyfriend break the law in the most sinister way imaginable.”
Francisco was arrested in Florida on Monday, May 19, and is awaiting extradition to Los Angeles.
What About Kai Cordrey?
Kai Faron Cordrey, 26, is described as Gabbie’s ex-boyfriend and a surf instructor based in Hawaii. According to prosecutors, he served as the middleman in the entire operation. He’s the one who allegedly set up the dark web account, communicated with the supposed hitman, and received the money from Francisco that was funneled toward the killing.
There’s also an interesting side thread involving someone named Dustin Barca. According to investigators, an alleged communication between Gonzalez family members included Francisco writing “Call Barca… never too early.” Authorities believe that refers to Barca, and they say Gabbie and Cordrey later tried to recruit him to threaten Avery.
Cordrey faces the same charges as Gabbie and Francisco: one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder.
Jack Avery Found Out When a Detective Called Him
Here’s the part of this story that really lands. Jack Avery didn’t know about any of this until a detective called him on Friday, May 15, the same day Gabbie was arrested. Up until that point, by all public accounts, he and Gabbie were simply co-parents in a difficult custody situation. He had even previously praised her publicly for being a good mother to their daughter.
After Gabbie’s arrest, their daughter Lavender was placed with a foster family. Avery rushed to pick her up on Saturday. By Tuesday, the same day Gabbie appeared in court, Avery filed a temporary restraining order against her and also filed for sole legal and physical custody of Lavender.
His court filing referenced the FBI warning him that it was “not safe” to be around Gabbie.
Why It Took Five Years to Charge Anyone
The alleged plot dates back to 2020 and 2021. The recorded call between Gabbie and Cordrey happened in October 2022. But criminal charges weren’t officially filed until May 19, 2026. That’s a long gap.
The L.A. County DA’s office acknowledged as much, calling this a “lengthy investigation” that was initiated by the FBI and eventually turned over to their office for prosecution. DA Hochman described the case as one where “the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder.”
It’s not unusual for complex federal investigations involving dark web activity, cryptocurrency tracing, and undercover operations to take years before charges are brought. But it does mean Gabbie was out there posting content, building her brand, and co-parenting for years while this investigation was apparently ongoing in the background.
What Happens Next
Gabbie Gonzalez remains in custody on $2 million bail. A judge ordered her to stay at least 100 yards from both Avery and Lavender, with no contact. Her arraignment was continued to Thursday, May 22, in Los Angeles County after her lawyer asked for more time to review the evidence.
Francisco Gonzalez is in custody in Florida and has not yet been extradited to L.A. His law practice in Seminole County has offered no comment.
Cordrey’s current status is less clear from available reports, but he faces the same three felony counts.
If all three are convicted as charged, they each face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. For a custody dispute that, according to at least one witness, started because someone thought murder was the cheaper option.