Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, Jared Bridegan.Photo:Derek Shook / BACKGRID; Jacksonville Beach Police Department
Derek Shook / BACKGRID; Jacksonville Beach Police Department
“We will be filing a notice of our intent to seek the death penalty,” Nelson said.
Bridegan was shot multiple times at close range on Feb. 16, 2022 after he stepped out of his black Volkswagen Atlas to remove a discarded tire lying in the middle of a Jacksonville Beach road.
Shanna Gardner-Fernandez.Bob Self/USA Today Network
Then in March, Gardner-Fernandez’s current husband Mario Fernandez Saldana was indicted and arrested on charges of first-degree murder conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, among other charges. Previously, Tenon had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana, who has pleaded not guilty.
Mario Fernandez Saldana.Jacksonville Beach Police Department
Now, Bridegan’s ex-wife, with whom he had been engaged in a drawn-out custody dispute, becomes the third person charged in the killing that rocked Duval County.
“Henry Tenon did not act alone, Mario Fernandez did not plan alone,” Nelson claimed Thursday. “And Shanna Gardner’s indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan.”
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Nelson said details of the indictment would be shared during the discovery process.
Henry Tenon.Jacksonville Beach Police Department
Gardner-Fernandez now faces extradition to Duval County, on conspiracy and child abuses charges, as well as a charge of first-degree murder.
“When officers got on the scene, they found the vehicle with the flashers on, and there was a tire up in front of his vehicle in the roadway,” Jacksonville Beach Police Department Sgt. Tonya Tator previously told PEOPLE.
Not long after the shooting, local media began reporting on the contentious custody dispute between Bridegan and Gardner-Fernandez. They each remarried after their 2016 divorce, but were still battling in court up until Bridegan’s death.
source: people.com
