MMA fighters expect to be approached for fights or even endorsements, but seldom expect someone to approach them for what this one influencer wanted him to do. However, that is exactly what 24-year-old TikTok star Gabbie Gonzalez allegedly had in mind when she, her father Francisco Gonzalez, and associate Kai Cordrey approached former MMA fighter and boxing trainer Dustin Barca as part of a murder-for-hire scheme to assassinate musician Jack Avery, a former member of the boy band ‘Why Don’t We.’
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Gabbie Gonzalez was arrested on May 18th by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and transferred to Los Angeles County custody, where she was booked on a felony charge. She appeared in an LA courtroom on Tuesday, where her arraignment was continued to Thursday. Her bail has been set at $2 million. The judge also ordered her to stay at least 100 yards away from Avery and their seven-year-old daughter, Lavender, with no contact permitted.
Prosecutors allege the murder-for-hire plot was motivated by a bitter custody dispute between her and Jack Avery over Lavender. According to court filings, the 24-year-old and Cordrey allegedly approached former MMA fighter and boxing trainer Dustin Barca, trying to convince him back on March 23, 2021, to threaten, scare, or force Avery into leaving Kauai, Hawaii, where he was living at the time.
TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez and her father, Francisco Gonzalez, have been arrested over an alleged murder plot against her ex-boyfriend, boy band Why Don't We's Jack Avery. usmagazine.com/celebrity-news…
However, when the Hawaiian MMA fighter refused the offer, stating he didn’t wish to get involved, the pair then tried to find a hitman on the dark web in the weeks that followed. And this is when Gabbie’s father came into the picture.
Gabbie Gonzalez’s father arrested in connection with the murder-for-hire plot
Gabbie’s father, Francisco Gonzalez, was arrested on Monday and was being held without bond. Cordrey and Gabbie’s father was charged on Tuesday. They face one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder, according to the felony complaint filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
According to reports, Gabbie and Cordrey also discussed using Bitcoin to pay for the murder and make it look like an accident. Francisco had sent $10,000 to Cordrey on April 26, 2021, disguising it as web-development payments. But it was later revealed that it was merely a cover story, and he didn’t really perform any web services.
As per prosecutors, Cordrey allegedly transferred the funds to a Gemini cryptocurrency account and opened a dark-web murder-for-hire account under the alias “LizardKing69,” identifying Avery as the target and providing an address in Los Angeles on May 22nd, 2021. Cordrey instructed participants that Avery “should be killed by whatever method was easiest.”
In June that year, the account’s administrator demanded an additional $4,000. So, Cordrey approached Francisco for the funds. By September, an FBI undercover investigator had lured Cordrey into discussing the plan by phone. Francisco subsequently contacted the undercover agent directly to discuss a prior Bitcoin payment.
If convicted on all charges, all three perpetrators involved could face 25 years to life in prison. On Tuesday, Jack Avery filed a temporary restraining order against Gabbie Gonzalez.
From the looks of it, MMA fighter Dustin Barca made the right decision by not getting involved, and as a result, he will not be facing any charges. However, it won’t be the same for the perpetrators.
