Singer Jack Avery won a five-year restraining order and sole physical custody of his seven-year-old daughter on Wednesday after testifying that he was “very scared” of the girl’s mother, TikTok influencer Gabriela “Gabbie” Gonzalez, who is charged with conspiring to hire a hit man on the dark web to kill him.
“I’m overwhelmed and happy at the same time,” Avery, 27, a former member of the boy band Why Don’t We, told Rolling Stone after testifying in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom and hearing the judge’s ruling.
Judge Brenda Comer Robinson ruled in Avery’s favor after a two-day hearing , finding that Gonzalez had engaged in “clearly manipulative behavior that caused him emotional harm.” The judge also found that the couple’s daughter was “a direct victim of the abuse perpetrated by Ms. Gonzalez.” Still, she said it was in the girl’s best interest to have professionally monitored visits with her mother once an existing criminal protective order permits contact.
Gonzalez, 25, did not testify at the family court hearing. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder.
Avery took the witness stand Wednesday morning, providing his first live testimony since Gonzalez was arrested in May along with her father, Florida lawyer Francisco Gonzalez, and her former boyfriend, Hawaii surf instructor Kai Cordrey.
Avery told the judge that the FBI first contacted him in 2021 to inform him that Gonzalez was being investigated over an alleged plot to kill him. He said the warning left him fearful for his safety, triggered severe anxiety, and complicated his already contentious custody dispute with Gonzalez. Avery said he missed more than 25 visits with his daughter, who was living with Gonzalez in another state.
“I’m very scared of Gabriela,” Avery testified. “She just recently got arrested in a murder-for-hire plot to kill me.”
Avery said he did not learn some of the more disturbing details of the alleged conspiracy until the three defendants were arrested in May. “I wasn’t aware that it was going to be a staged car crash to kill me. I wasn’t aware that they wanted my severed finger with a ring on it after I died,” he testified. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
He recalled canceling a visit with his daughter shortly after meeting with FBI agents because he was frightened to travel. “The FBI was informing me to not go to Hawaii to see Lavender because they said Gabriela was too dangerous to be around,” he testified.
On a subsequent trip, Avery brought a friend at the FBI’s suggestion. He said he became alarmed when Gonzalez asked him to meet at a park instead of his usual hotel for a custody exchange. “Knowing everything the FBI was telling me, I was scared of going to a different spot,” he testified.
“I was destroyed every time I didn’t see [my daughter],” Avery said of the missed visits. “I have insane anxiety now. I have panic disorder.”
Avery said he’s become fearful of traveling by car and feels harassed by Gonzalez’s mother, who allegedly posted about him on social media and…