Someone hired someone to kill me
When a custody dispute over a seven-year-old girl grew bitter enough, it allegedly crossed a threshold that few family conflicts ever reach: three people — a young social media influencer, her father, and her former boyfriend — are accused of seeking to have the child's father killed. Gabriela Gonzalez, Francisco Gonzalez, and Faron Cordrey now face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy, and solicitation in Los Angeles, after prosecutors say they turned to the dark web and an undercover FBI agent to arrange what anger alone could not accomplish. The case is a reminder that the institutions meant to resolve human conflict — courts, custody proceedings, the law itself — exist precisely because the alternatives, when passions overwhelm judgment, can be this dark.
- A custody battle over a seven-year-old escalated into an alleged murder-for-hire plot, with Gabriela Gonzalez repeatedly expressing to those around her that she wanted her daughter's father, former boy band member Jack Avery, dead.
- The alleged scheme moved from words to action when Cordrey was asked to search the dark web for a hitman, and Francisco Gonzalez wired $14,000 in two installments to fund the killing.
- The operation unraveled because the hired killer was an undercover FBI agent — Cordrey discussed payment terms, proof of death, and the target's identity directly with law enforcement.
- Avery only learned he had been targeted when FBI agents arrived at his door, a moment he later described on a podcast with the blunt clarity of someone who had survived something he never saw coming.
- All three defendants now face 25 years to life in prison if convicted, and the case moves through the courts as a stark measure of how completely a family conflict can collapse into criminality.
In the spring of 2020, as a custody dispute over a seven-year-old girl intensified, Gabriela Gonzalez — a social media influencer in her early twenties — allegedly began telling people around her that she wanted Jack Avery dead. Avery, a former member of the boy band Why Don't We, was the father of her daughter. What prosecutors would later argue began as angry talk eventually became something far more deliberate.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Gonzalez, 24, along with her father Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and her former boyfriend Faron Cordrey, 26, with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. District Attorney Nathan Hochman described defendants who allegedly "went to great lengths to find someone to commit murder."
According to court documents, Gabriela asked Cordrey to search the dark web for a willing killer, and discussed staging Avery's death as either a shooting or an accident. Her father provided the financing — $10,000 initially, then another $4,000 two months later when the person Cordrey had located asked for more. That person was an undercover FBI agent. In September 2021, Cordrey spoke with the officer directly, discussing payment, proof of death, and confirming that Gabriela wanted the murder carried out and that her father would pay for it.
Hochman reserved particular words for Francisco: "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." Avery learned of the plot only when FBI agents came to his door — a moment he later recounted on a podcast with stark simplicity: "Someone hired someone to kill me."
Each defendant now faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, and the case moves forward carrying the full weight of what a custody dispute can become — and what it costs a child when the adults in her life allow anger to become something irreversible.
In the spring of 2020, as a custody dispute over a seven-year-old girl intensified, three people—a social media influencer, her father, and her former boyfriend—allegedly began discussing something that would transform a family conflict into a criminal conspiracy. Gabriela Gonzalez, then in her early twenties, repeatedly told people around her that she wanted Jack Avery dead. Avery, a former member of the boy band Why Don't We, was the father of her daughter. What started as angry talk, prosecutors would later argue, became something far more concrete: a plan to hire someone to kill him.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged all three defendants on Tuesday with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. Gabriela Gonzalez is 24. Her father, Francisco Gonzalez, is 59. Her former boyfriend, Faron Cordrey, is 26. District Attorney Nathan Hochman described the case in stark terms: "This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder."
According to court documents, the alleged plot unfolded between 2020 and 2021. Prosecutors say Gabriela Gonzalez asked Cordrey to search the dark web for someone willing to kill Avery. She discussed staging his death to look like either a shooting or an accident—details meant to obscure what had actually happened. Her father, Francisco, provided the money. He gave Cordrey ten thousand dollars initially to locate and pay a hitman. When the person Cordrey found—who was actually an undercover FBI agent—asked for more money, Francisco sent another four thousand dollars two months later.
In September 2021, Cordrey spoke directly with the undercover officer posing as a hitman. He discussed payment terms, how proof of death would be provided, and identified Avery as the target. He told the officer that Gabriela Gonzalez wanted the murder to happen and that her father would pay for it. The FBI, which had initiated the investigation, eventually handed the case to local prosecutors.
Hochman's statement about Francisco Gonzalez carried a particular weight: "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." The remark underscored not just the crime itself, but the family structure that allegedly enabled it.
Avery learned of the plot when FBI agents appeared at his door. He later described the moment on a podcast, speaking with the directness of someone who had narrowly escaped something unthinkable: "Someone hired someone to kill me." The warning gave him knowledge of a danger that had been real and active, even if he had been unaware of it.
If convicted on all charges, each of the three defendants faces a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. The case now moves through the courts, carrying with it the weight of what a custody dispute can become when anger metastasizes into something darker—and what a seven-year-old child's life looks like when the adults around her allow it to.
Notable Quotes
This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder.— District Attorney Nathan Hochman
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.— District Attorney Nathan Hochman
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
How does a custody disagreement turn into a murder plot? What's the bridge between anger and actually trying to hire someone?
The documents suggest it wasn't sudden. Gabriela Gonzalez was talking about wanting him dead to people around her—witnesses heard it repeatedly. Once you say something out loud enough times, it stops being a fantasy and starts feeling like a plan.
And the father—he gave fourteen thousand dollars. That's not a moment of weakness. That's deliberate.
Right. He didn't just tolerate his daughter's anger. He funded it. He sent money twice. That suggests he believed in what he was doing, or at least believed in helping his daughter more than he believed in the law.
The boyfriend found an undercover agent. How does that even happen?
Cordrey went looking on the dark web. He was searching for something that doesn't really exist in the way he thought—a legitimate hitman service. What he found was law enforcement waiting. The FBI had already opened the investigation.
So they were caught before anything could happen.
Yes. The undercover agent never intended to carry out anything. But Cordrey didn't know that. He negotiated terms, discussed payment, identified the target. From the law's perspective, he'd already committed the crime.
What happens to the daughter now?
That's the question no one really answers in the charging documents. She's seven. Her father was the target. Her mother, grandfather, and mother's ex-boyfriend are all facing life sentences. The custody dispute that started this—it's been swallowed by something much larger.