Gabbie Gonzalez, a 24-year-old TikTok and Instagram influencer with nearly half a million followers known for lifestyle, travel and motherhood content, was arrested on Friday May 15, 2026 in Humboldt County, California while boarding a flight, transferred to a Los Angeles County jail and charged with conspiracy to commit murder in an alleged plot to kill Jack Avery, the former Why Don’t We boy band singer who is the father of her seven-year-old daughter.
She appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday in a blue hoodie and handcuffs and did not enter a plea. Bail was set at $2 million.
Her father, Francisco Gonzalez, 59, was arrested in Seminole County, Florida on Monday on the same charge, conspiracy to commit murder. He has not yet been extradited to Los Angeles.
The alleged plot, according to court documents and law enforcement sources cited by TMZ and Rolling Stone, developed out of a bitter custody dispute between Gabbie and Avery over Lavender, the couple’s seven-year-old daughter.
It involved the dark web, Bitcoin, coded language, a $10,000 payment described as a cover story and a federal undercover agent posing as a hitman.
Jack Avery found out on Friday when a detective called him.
What Happened?
The case as prosecutors and law enforcement have outlined it involves a conspiracy that stretches back to at least 2021, three years before the arrests, and includes a third party identified in reporting as Kai Cordrey, described in some accounts as a former boyfriend of Gabbie’s, who allegedly received a $10,000 payment from Francisco Gonzalez on April 26, 2021, described in financial records as payment for “web-development services.”
Cordrey later told investigators that no web development services were ever performed and that the payment was a cover story.
Using information from Cordrey, a federal agent posed as a hitman and got on a phone call with Francisco Gonzalez.
During that call, prosecutors allege, Francisco confirmed prior payments and discussed the target, Jack Avery.
Investigators said the conversations about the alleged plot included planning for Avery’s death to look like a car accident in Los Angeles.
Coded language was used in the discussions, terms like “bullrun” appearing in communications about payments and verifying details about the target.
A witness told law enforcement that Gabbie had informed him her father paid approximately $10,000 for the hit and that Francisco said it would be “easier” or “cheaper” if Jack were dead.
Primetimer reported that the witness also alleged Gabbie “repeatedly said she wanted Jack Avery dead and discussed hiring a hitman” and that she and the hitman “discussed using the dark web and paying in Bitcoin.”
Gabbie was arrested while boarding a flight in Humboldt County, Northern California, far from her Los Angeles area connections, on Friday May 15. She was transferred to LA County by Monday and held without bail pending arraignment.
The Courtroom Scene On Tuesday
Gabbie Gonzalez appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday May 19, in a plexiglass holding pen, wearing a blue hoodie, in handcuffs, her long curly hair recognizable to followers of the TikTok and Instagram accounts that have documented her travel, family and lifestyle for years.
Her lawyer did not enter a plea. He asked for additional time to review the evidence, and the judge granted it, continuing the arraignment to Thursday. The judge set bail at $2 million.
The judge also issued an order requiring Gonzalez to stay at least 100 yards from Jack Avery and from their daughter Lavender at all times.
Francisco Gonzalez remained in Florida as of Tuesday, booked at Seminole County on the same conspiracy to commit murder charge.
Extradition proceedings to bring him to Los Angeles have not yet been completed.
Who Is Gabbie Gonzalez?
Gabriela “Gabbie” Gonzalez built her social media following through the specific category of content that performs consistently well on TikTok and Instagram, travel photography and video, family moments, lifestyle aspirational content, the documentation of a young mother’s daily life in a format designed for an audience that responds to authenticity and relatability.
She accumulated nearly half a million followers on each platform. She posted about Lavender. She posted about travel. She posted about her life.
She met Jack Avery when she was a teenager and he was a member of Why Don’t We, the boy band formed in 2016 that found its audience primarily among young teenagers and that was among the more successful acts in that specific corner of the music market in the late 2010s.
Why Don’t We’s five members, Avery, Daniel Seavey, Corbyn Besson, Zach Herron and Jonah Marais, built a following through social media that translated into albums, tours and a dedicated fanbase. The band has been on hiatus with members pursuing solo careers.
Avery and Gonzalez dated in 2018. Their daughter Lavender was born in 2019.
The couple split but maintained a joint parenting arrangement that, according to court documents, was increasingly contested — the custody dispute that prosecutors allege drove the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
In 2022, Gonzalez announced her engagement to Cody Clayburn. They married. They divorced in 2024. By that point the custody dispute with Avery had been ongoing for years.
What Avery Said
Jack Avery learned that the mother of his child had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder him when a detective called him on Friday.
He said his daughter Lavender had been placed with a foster family after Gabbie’s arrest and that he rushed to pick her up on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the same day Gabbie appeared in court, Avery filed a temporary restraining order against her and filed for sole legal and physical custody of Lavender.
The filing described a situation in which the FBI had warned him it was “not safe” to be around Gabbie and in which he had managed his fear and anxiety every time he traveled to see his daughter because of the safety risk he believed he faced.
The filing described two women identified as Gonzalez’s friends appearing at his Southern California home and banging on his door and ringing his doorbell looking for the little girl.
It described Gabbie’s family members calling and texting him relentlessly after the arrest demanding to know where Lavender was.
Avery said in his filing that he continued to travel to see his daughter despite his fears because of how important Lavender is to him and out of serious concern for her safety and wellbeing.
Lavender is seven years old. She is currently with her father.
What’s Next?
Gabbie Gonzalez’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday May 22 in Los Angeles County.
Francisco Gonzalez’s extradition from Florida has not been completed. The charges, conspiracy to commit murder, carry a maximum sentence of life in prison under California law if convicted.
Gonzalez has not entered a plea. Her attorney has asked for time to review the evidence.
The $2 million bail means she remains jailed unless that amount is posted. The 100-yard stay-away order from both Avery and Lavender is in effect.
The daughter at the center of the custody dispute that prosecutors say drove this alleged plot is seven years old. Her parents have been separated since she was an infant.
She has spent her entire conscious life watching them navigate a parenting arrangement from a distance.
She is currently with her father in Southern California, and a judge has ordered that the mother she has seen documented on TikTok and Instagram for her entire life stay at least 100 yards away from both of them.
