A glam influencer has pleaded not guilty after being accused in a murder-for-hire plot to kill a boyband star.
Gabbie Gonzalez, alongside her father and ex-boyfriend, entered their plea to charges brought against them.
The 25-year-old is one of the three who were accused of plotting to kill singer Jack Avery with a paid assassin recruited on the dark web.
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Gonzalez, who has over 475,000 followers on Instagram, pleaded not guilty on Monday (14 Sep), as reported by Need To Know.
The hearing took place in a California courtroom where Los Angeles County prosecutors claimed the trio conspired to kill the singer.
The alleged plot took place during a bitter and prolonged custody battle over Gonzalez’s 7-year-old daughter she had with Avery.
The influencer appeared in court alongside her father Francisco Gonzalez, 59 and ex-boyfriend Kai Faron Cordrey, 26.
The trio are all charged with three counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder.
Her next hearing has been scheduled for 18 Nov.
Investigators allege Francisco became heavily involved in the dispute and was determined to remove Avery from his daughter’s life.
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 obtained by PEOPLE, 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.
If the trio are to be convicted as charged, each could face 25 years to life in prison, according to prosecutors.
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