A social media influencer and her father have been arrested over an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting her boyband singer ex-partner during a bitter custody dispute.
Gabriela Gonzalez, 24, who has hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, was arrested in California on May 18 and is currently being held without bail.
Her father, Francisco Javier Gonzalez, 59, was also arrested the same day in Florida on an out-of-state warrant linked to charges in California including conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder.
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According to court documents and a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, the allegations centre around a long-running custody battle involving Gabriela’s ex-boyfriend, Why Don’t We singer Jack Avery, and the couple’s seven-year-old daughter.
Investigators allege Francisco became heavily involved in the dispute and was determined to remove Avery from his daughter’s life, as reported by Need To Know.
Witnesses claimed Francisco made hostile remarks about the singer, with one person alleging he said words “to the effect that it would be cheaper if Avery were dead”.
Another described the Gonzalez family as “obsessed” with gaining full custody.
Authorities also allege Francisco helped organise surveillance of Avery at his home in Kauai, Hawaii, in an attempt to gather damaging material that could allegedly be used during the custody case.
Court filings claim Gabriela discussed hiring someone to kill Avery and allegedly spoke with co-conspirator Kai Cordrey about staging the singer’s death to look like a car accident in Los Angeles.
Investigators allege the pair discussed using Bitcoin and the dark web as part of the plan.
According to the affidavit, Francisco allegedly acted as the financial backer behind the scheme.
Authorities claim around $10,000 was transferred to Cordrey disguised as payment for web development work, despite investigators alleging no such work had actually been carried out.
Financial records reviewed during the investigation allegedly showed two separate $5,000 cryptocurrency transfers linked to the payments.
Court documents also allege Francisco later spoke directly with an undercover federal agent posing as a hitman.
Investigators claim coded language including the phrase “bullrun” was used during communications about payment and verifying the target.
Avery previously revealed during a 2025 appearance on the Zac Sang Show podcast that FBI agents had warned him somebody was allegedly trying to kill him, though he did not publicly identify any suspects at the time.
Gabriela describes herself on Instagram as a “lover of life, mermaid at heart” and has amassed more than 470,000 followers on the platform.
Francisco waived extradition during a Florida court appearance on May 19.
It is not yet clear whether either defendant has entered a plea.
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