JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jared Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, is officially booked in Duval County Jail after an extradition hearing took place in Washington Thursday morning.
Gardner, 36, faces charges of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, conspiracy to commit murder and child abuse, according to jail records. Gardner was booked on Friday at 10:28 p.m. as her first court appearance was waived, originally planned to be on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m., jail records indicate. Instead, Gardner will appear in Duval County court for the first time on Nov. 3 for her arraignment.
What happened to Jared Bridegan?
The father of four, who lived in St. Augustine, was gunned down in the street in Jacksonville Beach while leaving Gardner's home in Jacksonville Beach on Feb. 16, 2022. Bridegan had dropped off their 10-year-old children and was driving home with his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley. The shooting happened when Bridegan got out of the car to move a tire blocking the road -- which police now say was planned there intentionally to lure him from the car.
The child abuse charge stems from Bexley's witnessing of the crime.
Police records show that Bridegan and Gardner had a "highly acrimonious divorce." Gardner's husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana, has also been arrested in the crime. Police records say Bridegan had a "contentious" relationship to both Fernandez-Saldana and Gardner.
In addition to Gardner and her husband, a 62-year-old man named Henry Tenon, who once rented a home from Fernandez-Saldana, was charged in the crime. Tenon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Tenon's car matched both the truck seen at the crime scene and the tire Bridegan found in the road that night. While Tenon may have been the shooter, police stressed since his arrest that he "did not act alone."
He was the first to be arrested on January 25. Fernandez-Saldana's arrest was the next domino to fall on March 16.
Police linked Tenon to Fernandez-Saldana after finding evidence that he was paying him for something; the warrant for his arrest says police uncovered three checks from Fernandez-Saldana to Tenon.
