Former Boyfriend Testifies in Civil Case Linked to Alleged Plot Against Jack Avery

Testimony in a Los Angeles civil court on Tuesday put a former boyfriend at the centre of the case involving TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez. She is accused of trying to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill Jack Avery, the singer from the 2010s boy band Why Don't We and the father of their seven-year-old daughter. Gonzalez has not been convicted of anything, and she has pleaded not guilty.

The hearing is civil, which means it is separate from the criminal case. It will decide two things: whether Avery can extend a domestic violence restraining order against Gonzalez, a court order that limits contact, and whether she can have contact with their daughter while the criminal case goes on. Rolling Stone reported that Gonzalez was seated about 10 feet from Avery. It was their first court appearance together since her arrest, and the hearing was due to continue on Wednesday.

The witness on Tuesday was Cody Clayburn, a former boyfriend of Gonzalez. He testified against her, not on Avery's behalf. Clayburn said he met Gabriela Gonzalez in June 2021, and he described her alleged hatred of Avery as tied to the custody dispute.

Clayburn said he learned of the alleged plot in November 2022. That was when FBI agents raided the Hawaii home they shared and seized electronic devices. He told the court that afterwards, Gonzalez said her ex, Kai Cordrey, was obsessed with her and wanted to help carry out a plan to get rid of Avery. He also said she told him a Bitcoin payment had been made, and that she feared prison if her phone were opened. Bitcoin is a digital currency. These were Clayburn's statements to the court, and they have not been tested by a verdict.

Gonzalez did not testify. She invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the constitutional protection that lets a person refuse to answer questions that could be used against them.

Clayburn also described events in their home. He said Gonzalez began arranging to foster another young girl without telling him. Hawaii child welfare officials later placed a girl named Isabel in the home with his consent. Gonzalez left the state about two weeks later.

Gonzalez, her father Francisco Gonzalez, and Cordrey were arrested in May and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and solicitation to commit murder. All three have pleaded not guilty. If convicted as charged, they face 25 years to life in state prison. A felony complaint published by Courthouse News in May alleges that Gonzalez communicated with others from about February to April 2021 about Avery and the custody dispute. The complaint contains allegations only.

Francisco Gonzalez is a Seminole County lawyer, and his law licence has been suspended after the charge, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Gonzalez's lawyer has said in court filings that she has had no contact with the child since she was taken into custody and released on bond. That claim is part of the civil hearing and has not been decided by the court.

For now, the civil hearing's outcome will decide what happens between a parent and a child while the criminal case moves forward. The criminal charges will be decided in a separate proceeding, and the hearing is set to resume on Wednesday.