WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — Wearing a dark green jail-issued uniform, Shanna Gardner appeared before a judge in Benton County, Washington on Friday. She was indicted Thursday in the February 2022 killing of her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan. The judge ordered Gardner to be held on no bond.
She could remain in the Washington jail for another 90 days or longer before she's extradited back to Duval County to stand trial for what she's accused of doing here. Gardner's attorney told the judge they do not anticipate waiving extradition.
Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse. She was taken into custody Thursday in West Richland, Washington.
During a news conference Thursday announcing Gardner's indictment, State Attorney Melissa Nelson said she's seeking the death penalty. Garnder's husband, Mario Fernandez, is also charged with Bridegan's murder. The state is also seeking the death penalty against him.
Another man, Henry Tenon is also charged in Bridegan's death. He pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder.
On Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan, a father of four was murdered in the road just outside the Sanctuary neighborhood in Jacksonville Beach. Police say as he was turning out of the neighborhood onto a narrow, dimly lit section of the road where a tire had been placed in the street.
He opened his door to presumably move the tire out of the road and it was then he was gunned down, police said. He was shot multiple times as his 2-year-old daughter Bexley remained strapped into her car seat.
Tenon had rented a property from Mario Fernandez. The night Bridegan was shot, he was dropping off his and Shanna's twin children.
During Thursday's news conference, Nelson said, "Henry Tenon did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone and Shanna Gardner's indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated, and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan,"
