LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Gabriela Gonzalez, her father Francisco Gonzalez, and Faron Cordrey with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder in connection with a plot to kill former boy band singer Jack Avery. The charges stem from a 2020 custody dispute involving Gabriela Gonzalez and Avery, who share a 7-year-old daughter.

Gabriela Gonzalez, 24, Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and Cordrey, 26, each face 25 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged. According to court documents, witnesses told investigators that Gabriela Gonzalez repeatedly said she wanted Avery dead and discussed hiring a hitman.

Prosecutors said the plot included staging Avery's death to look like a shooting or accident. They also said Gabriela Gonzalez asked Cordrey to go on the dark web and find a hitman to kill Avery between 2020 and 2021. Investigators allege that Francisco Gonzalez initially gave Cordrey $10,000 to find and pay a hitman, who was an undercover FBI agent, and then sent Cordrey another $4,000 two months later after the apparent hitman asked for more money.

Prosecutors said Cordrey spoke with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman in September 2021 about the murder-for-hire plot, discussing payment, proof of death, and identifying Avery as the target. Cordrey told the undercover officer that Gabriela Gonzalez wanted the murder to happen and that her father would pay for it, according to prosecutors.

The FBI started the investigation and later handed the case over to Los Angeles County prosecutors. Avery addressed the plot on a podcast. "Someone hired someone to kill me," he said.

"This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. "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."