Jack Avery Wins Custody and a Five-Year Restraining Order Against Gabbie Gonzalez
A Los Angeles judge has granted former Why Don't We member Jack Avery a five-year restraining order and sole physical custody of his seven-year-old daughter, Rolling Stone reported on 22 October 2026. Judge Brenda Comer Robinson issued the ruling after a two-day hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The case is tied to a criminal prosecution in which Avery is the alleged target.
Avery, 27, is the father of the child. The mother, Gabriela "Gabbie" Gonzalez, is a TikTok influencer who is 25 years old. She is charged with conspiring to hire a hitman on the dark web, a hidden part of the internet where anonymous sellers offer illegal services, to kill Avery. She has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder. She did not testify at the custody hearing.
Avery told the court, "I'm very scared of Gabriela." He testified that the FBI first contacted him in 2021 to say Gonzalez was being investigated over an alleged plot against his life. He also said he had missed more than 25 visits with his daughter while she lived with Gonzalez in another state.
Robinson described Gonzalez's conduct in strong terms. She found Gonzalez engaged in "clearly manipulative behavior that caused him emotional harm," and that the couple's daughter was "a direct victim of the abuse perpetrated by Ms. Gonzalez." The judge ruled that visits between the child and her mother should be professionally monitored, meaning a supervisor is present, and that this should happen once an existing criminal protective order allows contact.
Prosecutors allege that between October 2020 and May 2021, Gonzalez repeatedly talked about wanting Avery dead. They say she enlisted her former boyfriend, Hawaii surf instructor Kai Cordrey, to help, including discussion of paying a hitman in bitcoin on the dark web. Avery testified that he did not know the alleged plan included a staged car crash. He also said he was unaware of a demand for his severed finger, with a ring on it, after his death.
Gonzalez was arrested in May along with her father, Florida lawyer Francisco Gonzalez, and Cordrey. Los Angeles County prosecutors allege that the three conspired to kill Avery while he and Gonzalez were in a bitter custody dispute. Those are allegations, and they have not been tested at a criminal trial.
Avery also claimed that Gonzalez and her mother left abruptly for Florida with the child and did not say when they would return. Another former boyfriend of Gonzalez testified in the same proceedings.
The custody ruling does not decide the criminal case, which is still pending. The judge's orders govern where the child lives and when, and what contact her mother may have, while that case moves through the courts.
