Gabriela Lauren Gonzalez, a social media influencer who shares a daughter with former Why Don’t We member Jack Avery, has been arrested and charged with hiring a hitman to kill Avery amid a child custody dispute, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office revealed on Tuesday (May 19).
According to a press release released by the D.A.’s office, Gonzalez is alleged to have sought the assistance of her then-boyfriend, Kai Faron Cordrey, to solicit a hitman to kill Avery after she and Avery became embroiled in a custody battle over their now-seven-year-old daughter between 2020 and 2021. Gonzalez’s father, Francisco Gonzalez, is alleged to have sent Cordrey a total of $14,000 to use in locating, hiring and paying someone to accomplish the deed.
In September 2021, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman spoke with Cordrey about the murder-for-hire scheme, according to the release. Cordrey is alleged to have told the undercover officer that Avery was the target of the plot and discussed payment and proof that he had been killed. In a later conversation, Cordrey allegedly told the hitman that Gabriela wanted the murder to happen and that Francisco could pay for it.
Gabriela was scheduled to be arranged on Tuesday (May 19) in Los Angeles. Francisco was arrested in Florida and is awaiting extradition. Along with Cordrey, they face 25 years to life in state prison if convicted on all counts. All three have been charged with one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder.
“This was a lengthy investigation that was initiated by the FBI and eventually turned over to our office, resulting in criminal charges being filed today,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman in a statement. “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.”
Also on Tuesday, Avery filed a petition in Los Angeles court asking for a restraining order against Gabriela, stating that he was “notified by the FBI” of the murder plot in 2021. “In 2025, I am informed and thereon believe the FBI turned the case over to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and identified GABRIELA, GABRIELA’s father Francisco Gonzalez, and her ex-boyfriend, Kai Cordrey as co-conspirators in a plot to have me killed,” his statement continued.
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The petition adds that Avery was informed on Friday (May 15) that Gabriela had been arrested and that their daughter had been removed from her custody and placed with a foster family, after which he traveled to Northern California to pick her up. Avery is requesting sole legal custody of their daughter with no visitation rights.
The murder-for-hire case is being prosecuted by L.A. Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott of the major crimes division. The investigation is ongoing.
A representative for Avery declined to comment for this story. Contact information for Gabriela, Francisco and Cordrey could not immediately be located.
Formed in 2016, Why Don’t We released two studio albums before getting involved in a prolonged, multifaceted legal battle with Signature Entertainment, the group’s former management company, which in 2021 sued the band members for anticipatory breach of contract and defamation. Prior to that, the band members had accused Signature co-founder David Loeffler, then serving as the band’s manager, of restricting their food intake and verbally abusing them, among other allegations.
In 2022, Why Don’t We was forced to go on hiatus and cancel a concert tour after the band said it was served a cease and desist letter from Signature barring them from entering agreements with promoters or venues. Last year, following a trial, four of the band’s members, including Avery, were forced to pay a symbolic $1 each to their former managers and prohibited from using the band’s name going forward.
