Arraignment was postponed Thursday for a social media influencer charged with plotting to kill the father of her 7-year-old daughter by trying to hire a hit man on the dark web as part of a family custody dispute several years ago.
Gabriela Lauren Gonzalez, 24, and her then-boyfriend, Kai Faron Cordrey, 26, are due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom July 23 for arraignment.
The two are charged along with the woman’s 59-year-old father, Francisco Gonzalez, with one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder involving the child’s father, Jack Avery, a former member of the boy band Why Don’t We, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
If convicted as charged, all three defendants could face 25 years to life in state prison.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa R. McGonigle ordered Gabriela Gonzalez and her ex-boyfriend to remain jailed in lieu of $2 million bail each.
She also ordered them to undergo GPS monitoring, surrender their passports and to comply with a protective order if they are released on bail, along with ordering Gonzalez not to communicate on social media about the case.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told the judge that the alleged conspiracy was “not just idle talk,” saying that the purported hitman was asked to send the victim’s “severed pinky.” The prosecutor alleged that Cordrey “acted as the frontman” in an alleged conspiracy that was “ongoing over a period of months.”
Defense attorney Tom Jones said Cordrey had recently flown to Japan to visit his 80-year-old grandmother for her birthday and immediately booked a flight back to Los Angeles when he learned that the case had been filed. Jones asked the judge to consider “non-monetary” conditions such as home detention or electronic monitoring or to reduce Cordrey’s bail to $250,000.
Cordrey was arrested Thursday morning by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, according to jail records.
Francisco Gonzalez was arrested in Florida and is awaiting extradition, authorities said.
In a statement Wednesday announcing the charges, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the case resulted from a lengthy investigation that was initiated by the FBI and eventually turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.
“This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder. 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,” Hochman said in the statement.
Gabriela Gonzalez was embroiled in a custody dispute with Avery over their daughter, and is accused of seeking the assistance of her then-boyfriend Cordrey to hire someone on the dark web to kill Avery between 2020 and 2021, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In April 2021, Gonzalez’s father, Francisco Gonzalez, allegedly sent $10,000 to Cordrey as front money to use in locating, hiring and paying someone to kill Avery, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Cordrey allegedly requested and received an additional $4,000 from Francisco Gonzalez two months later after the alleged hit man asked for the additional fund, and allegedly requested several days later that Avery be killed within a couple of days, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In September 2021, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hit man spoke with Cordrey about the murder-for-hire plot, prosecutors said. Cordrey is accused of telling the undercover officer that Avery was the target and allegedly discussed payment and proof of death.
In a subsequent conversation, Cordrey allegedly told the purported hit man that Gabriela Gonzalez wanted the murder to happen and that Francisco Gonzalez could pay for the expense.
In a post Thursday on Instagram, Avery wrote, “A few days ago, three individuals were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill me. One of those individuals is the mother of my daughter.”
“For years, my family and I have endured intense public scrutiny, false accusations and deeply painful attacks on our character and reputation. Throughout that time, I chose to remain silent out of respect for the legal process and, most importantly, for my daughter. Right now, my focus is on being the best father I can be. I’m thankful to have sole custody of my daughter, Lavender, who is safe, healthy and deeply loved,” Avery wrote, adding that he thanked “everyone who has supported me and withheld judgment while the truth unfolded.”