Inside the Custody Battle at Center of Gabriela Gonzalez Murder-for-Hire Case

The murder-for-hire case against influencer Gabriela Gonzalez grew out of a deeply contentious custody battle that is now playing out in both family and criminal court.

At the center is Gonzalez’s 7-year-old daughter with singer Jack Avery, whose emergency legal filings paint a picture of escalating conflict, and safety fears.

Avery has filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Gonzalez and is seeking sole legal and physical custody of their daughter following her arrest for allegedly plotting to have him killed.

The two previously shared joint legal and physical custody with a structured visitation schedule spanning Florida and Los Angeles.

Avery told the court he was warned by the FBI in 2021 that someone had allegedly been hired to kill him. After Gonzalez’s arrest, he said a detective notified him that their daughter had been placed in foster care. He then traveled to pick her up.

“Emergencies in custody cases rise to the top of judges’ priorities,” said Randy Kessler, founding partner of Kessler & Solomiany Family Law and author of Divorce: Protect Yourself, Your Kids and Your Future, who is not involved in the case. “In custody cases, especially high profile cases, judges want to establish a status quo that safeguards the children until a full trial can be held.”

He added that family courts often act on more limited evidence than criminal courts.

“Often in custody cases, dramatic restrictions are imposed based on very slim evidence, because courts are guided by the ‘best interests of the children’ standard,” he explained.

“Temporary restraining orders and emergency custody applications are usually based on claims that there is an immediate issue involving safety, threats, harassment, or instability,” said Todd Spodek, Managing Partner at Spodek Law Group, who is not involved in the case.

“In serious situations, courts can act very quickly, sometimes the same day, based on affidavits, text messages, screenshots, police reports, or other supporting material,” he added.

“In high-profile cases, judges know there is often a social-media narrative developing in parallel to the actual court case,” Spodek noted. “Most judges try very hard to tune that out and focus on what can actually be proven in court.”

“They make everything messier,” said criminal defense attorney Rory Safir, founder of Safir Law. “Custody filings and restraining order paperwork can be pulled into the criminal case. Prosecutors use them to show motive. Defense lawyers use them to show the accuser has a personal axe to grind.”

The two cases also move at different paces.

“Something said in one can come back to hurt someone in the other,” Safir warned. “Anyone in this spot needs their criminal lawyer and family lawyer talking constantly, because one line in a custody filing can blow up a criminal trial.”