JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A judge heard arguments on Wednesday morning in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of Jared Bridegan, who was murdered in an ambush-style shooting in Jacksonville Beach in 2022.
Kirsten Bridegan, widow of Jared Bridegan, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Duval County against the three people facing charges in his murder: Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner, her estranged husband Mario Fernandez, and Henry Tenon, who admitted to pulling the trigger.
Gardner and Fernandez are accused of plotting to kill Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old father of four, on Feb. 16, 2022.
The suspects’ attorneys are asking the court to pause the civil case while their criminal trials are ongoing, as they are worried the information uncovered in this case could be used against them criminally.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge gave Gardner and Fernandez two weeks to submit arguments on why the judge should pause the civil case and whether they could proceed without invoking the Fifth Amendment.
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The lawsuit recounts Bridegan’s murder, including that he had just finished a “date night” with the twin children he shared with Gardner, which was part of an established arrangement that took place every other Wednesday between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and had been going on for at least eight months prior to the murder.
After dropping the twins at Gardner’s home, Bridegan began driving home with his 2-year-old daughter whom he shared with Kirsten. The lawsuit claims that the only people who knew of Bridegan’s location at this point were his wife, Gardner, Fernandez, and Tenon.
While driving home, Bridegan noticed a large car tire in the middle of the road on Sanctuary Boulevard and got out of his car to move it out of the way. Once he exited the vehicle, he was shot multiple times by Tenon and died.
“The tire was placed so that Jared Bridegan would have to either drive in the grass or move the tire to keep driving,” the lawsuit reads before laying out the accusations against Gardner.
On March 16, 2023, Tenon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a weapon.
That same day, Fernandez was indicted for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child abuse.
On Aug. 17, 2023, Gardner received the same charges.
Kirsten Bridegan’s lawsuit seeks at least $50,000 to recover damages incurred by the loss of her husband, survivor damages of his four children, and medical, burial, and funeral expenses that have accumulated.
Attorneys for Bridegan are also arguing that Gardner and Fernandez may have made fraudulent transactions to hide their assets, which would be a big focus of the case should this go to trial.
In a recent development for the case, Tenon claimed his testimony was false, and while it is still unclear what Tenon meant when he said “false testimony” his attorney, Alan Chipperfield, gave insight into what may have led to the outburst.
“I told the state that I thought, I suspected that there may be an inmate in the jail who was influencing Mr. Tenon and that it could have been a co-defendant had gotten to him,” Chipperfield said. “That’s just speculation trying to figure out why my client surprised me in court.”
In early February, a judge granted a motion to order the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to release Tenon’s jail calls.
Jury selection in the murder-for-hire case trial is scheduled for Oct. 20.
