Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Influencer Hires Hit Man Amid Heated Custody Battle with Ex | Crime Alert 05.21.26

Transcript

Influencer Hires Hit Man Amid Heated Custody Battle with Ex | Crime Alert 05.21.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alard, hourly update breaking crime news Now, I'm Sidney Silvonni.
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  Speaker 1: A shocking murder for hire plot involving a popular social
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  Speaker 1: media influencer, her family, and a dark web conspiracy has
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  Speaker 1: come to light, targeting a well known pop singer. Authorities
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  Speaker 1: have arrested TikTok influencer Gabriella Gabby Lauren Gonzalez, twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: along with her father, Francisco Gonzalez, and her boyfriend Kai Cordrey,
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  Speaker 1: for allegedly conspiring to hire a hit man to assassinate
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  Speaker 1: Gonzalez's ex boyfriend, Jack Avery. Avery is a former member
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  Speaker 1: of the popular boy band Why Don't We and shares
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  Speaker 1: a seven year old daughter with Gonzalez. According to police reports,
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  Speaker 1: the underlying motive stems from a bitter, long standing custody
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  Speaker 1: and visitation battle over their young child. The arrest warrant
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  Speaker 1: reveals that Gonzalez's father, Francisco Gonzalez, became deeply embedded in
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  Speaker 1: the ongoing custody dispute. Prosecutors alleged that between twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: and twenty twenty one, the hostility reached a boiling point.
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  Speaker 1: Francisco reportedly hired a private investigator to track Avery's movements,
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  Speaker 1: looking specifically for evidence of smoking, drinking, or any behavioral
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  Speaker 1: issues that could be leveraged against the singer in court.
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  Speaker 1: The father also allegedly threatened to have Avery arrested if
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  Speaker 1: he showed up for scheduled visitations, and even attempted to
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  Speaker 1: manipulate a law enforcement contact to intervene. But the situation
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  Speaker 1: took a sinister turn when Gonzalez allegedly turned to her
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  Speaker 1: then boyfriend Chi Cordrey to procure a professional killer. A
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  Speaker 1: news release from Official states that Gonzalez wanted Avery dead
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  Speaker 1: and asked Cordray to find a hit man using the
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  Speaker 1: dark web to finance the execution. Francisco. Gonzalez reportedly paid
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  Speaker 1: Cordray ten thousand dollars under the fraudulent guise of web
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  Speaker 1: development fees. Cordray later demanded an additional four thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: from Francisco to advance the plot. Unbeknownst to the co conspirators,
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  Speaker 1: their digital trail led them straight to law enforcement. In
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  Speaker 1: September of twenty twenty one, Cordray began communicating with an
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  Speaker 1: undercover law enforcement agent who was posing as an operational hitman.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators state that Cordray openly detailed the murder plot, identified
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  Speaker 1: Jack Avery as the target, discussed payment arrangements, and negotiated
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  Speaker 1: proof of death. In subsequent recordings, Cordray explicitly told the
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  Speaker 1: undercover agent that Gabrielle Gonzalez ordered the hit and that
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  Speaker 1: her father would cover the expenses. The legal fallout from
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  Speaker 1: this disrupted plot is moving rapidly. TMZ reports that following
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  Speaker 1: the news of Gonzalez's arrest, Avery immediately filed an emergency
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  Speaker 1: restraining order against his ex girlfriend and has petitioned the
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  Speaker 1: court for sole custody of their daughter. Meanwhile, the Los
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  Speaker 1: Angeles County warrant issued on May twelfth led to the
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  Speaker 1: arrest of Francisco Gonzalez in Seminole County, Florida. During his
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  Speaker 1: initial court appearance, his defense team indicated that Gonzalez plans
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  Speaker 1: to waive extradition to California to face these severe charges.
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  Speaker 1: If convicted, Gonzalez, her father, and her boyfriend faced twenty
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  Speaker 1: five years alike in state prison. More Crime and Justice
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  Speaker 1: news after this, A horrifying case of fatal child abuse
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  Speaker 1: has shaken the community of Aurora, Colorado, where a young
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  Speaker 1: boy's life was tragically cut short. The Aurora Police Department
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  Speaker 1: confirmed the arrest of twenty four year old Alexander Martinez Armstrong,
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  Speaker 1: who is now facing first degree murder charges. The investigation
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  Speaker 1: began late Saturday night around ten pm, when emergency personnel
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  Speaker 1: responded to an urgent call at an apartment complex along
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  Speaker 1: East Tennessee Avenue. First responders arrived to find a four
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  Speaker 1: year old boy unresponsive and not breathing. Paramedics with Aurora
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  Speaker 1: Fire rescued desperately attempted life saving measures on the toddler,
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  Speaker 1: who was in cardiac arrest. According to an arrest affidavit,
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  Speaker 1: the child suffered from extensive horrific injuries. Paramedics noted that
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  Speaker 1: the boy's entire body from head to toe was covered
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  Speaker 1: in severe bruising at various stages of healing. He was
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  Speaker 1: rushed to a local hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.
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  Speaker 1: That same evening, investigators revealed that Martinez Armstrong is not
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  Speaker 1: the biological father of the boy, but serves as his godfather.
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  Speaker 1: When paramedics first entered the apartment, they observed Martinez Armstrong
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  Speaker 1: standing directly over the unresponsive child. An examination of the
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  Speaker 1: victim's body revealed distinct, elongated bruising marks, which investigators noted
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  Speaker 1: were highly consistent with being whipped by objects like belts
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  Speaker 1: or cords. When questioned by AROAR detectives, Martinez Armstrong provided
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  Speaker 1: a deeply disturbing account of the day's leading up to
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  Speaker 1: the boy's death. He stated that he had picked up
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  Speaker 1: his godson from the biological mother four days prior so
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  Speaker 1: the boy could complete schoolwork. The suspect claimed the child
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  Speaker 1: was placed on punishment for being disruptive, bad and failing
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  Speaker 1: to listen to his family. Martinez Armstrong asserted that the
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  Speaker 1: biological mother gave him explicit permission to discipline the boy
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  Speaker 1: using physical methods, which he claimed he had previously witnessed
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  Speaker 1: her perform. The affidavit details that this alleged discipline involved
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  Speaker 1: open palm spankings, forced push ups, planks, wall sits, and
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  Speaker 1: severe belt whippings. Martina's Armstrong admitted to investigators that on
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  Speaker 1: Saturday alone, he struck the four year old with a
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  Speaker 1: belt twenty one times. He claimed he aimed for the
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  Speaker 1: boy's buttocks, but because the child was moving to escape
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  Speaker 1: the blows, the belt struck other areas of his body.
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  Speaker 1: The suspect insisted he did not swing with full intensity
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  Speaker 1: and claimed that additional bruising on the child's face occurred
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  Speaker 1: when the boy collapsed while being forced to do push ups.
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  Speaker 1: He told police that when the boy complained of exhaustion,
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  Speaker 1: he put him on a couch with a blanket, discovering
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  Speaker 1: he was completely unresponsive hours later. However, the child's biological
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  Speaker 1: mother strongly contradicted the suspect's claims. She told police that
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  Speaker 1: while she disciplined her son, she never inflicted injuries or
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  Speaker 1: left marks, and stated she had absolutely no knowledge that
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  Speaker 1: Martina's Armstrong would physically abuse the boy. The Arapahoe County
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  Speaker 1: Coroner's Office is currently conducting an autopsy to determine the
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  Speaker 1: official cause and manner of death. For the latest crime
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  Speaker 1: and justice breaking news, be sure to tune in tomorrow
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  Speaker 1: on your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Sydney,
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  Speaker 1: soa bombing.