LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — An influencer charged with plotting the murder-for-hire of singer Jack Avery appeared in court with her father and ex-boyfriend, and all three pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Kai Cordrey (L), Francisco Gonzalez and Gabriela Gonzalez appear at their arraignment on Sept. 14, 2026. (Court TV)
Gabriela Gonzalez, 24, is charged alongside her father, Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and her ex-boyfriend, Kai Cordrey, 26, for an alleged plot targeting the singer.
Gabriela Gonzalez shares a daughter with Avery, who rose to fame as a member of the boy band Why Don’t We. The two have been involved in a contentious custody battle, which prosecutors have said was the motivation for plotting Avery’s death.
In court documents, prosecutors said that Francisco Gonzalez hired a private investigator to track Avery for his daughter, looking for anything that could be used against him in court. One witness told detectives that Francisco Gonzalez had paid him more than $10,000 to help find a hit man.
Prosecutors say texts between Gabriela Gonzalez and Cordrey show the two discussing hiring a hit man and “making the killing appear to be an accident.”
Jack Avery of Why Don’t We performs at 93.3 FLZ’s Jingle Ball at Amalie Arena on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
All three defendants waived a reading of the charges at Monday’s arraignment. The brief hearing addressed only one other issue: Francisco Gonzalez’s request to amend his bond conditions, which kept him on house arrest. Judge Louis T. Parise Jr. granted Francisco Gonzalez’s attorney’s request that he be allowed to attend church on Sundays, over the prosecution’s objections. Prosecutors asked to have a specific time in the order that the service ends “so that we can monitor that he returns straight to his house.” Parise found that unnecessary because Gonzalez was already wearing a GPS monitor that would track whether he traveled to any other location.
Parise ordered all three defendants to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 18.
