JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A week after the State Attorney’s Office released body camera footage and 911 calls related to the 2022 shooting death of Jared Bridegan, two of those accused in a murder-for-hire plot in his death appeared in court Friday.
Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, had a pre-trial hearing in the case, which has garnered national attention since the father of four was killed in an ambush shooting in February 2022.
Fernandez and Gardner are both under indictment for first-degree murder and other charges. Prosecutors allege they orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot to kill Bridegan.
After some procedural updates in the case, Judge London Kite ordered the pair to return to court on Nov. 14 for another hearing.
New evidence unveiled
The evidence released last week by the State Attorney’s Office provided new insight into the chaotic moments surrounding Bridegan’s shooting.
Multiple 911 calls on the night of the shooting captured varying perspectives of the incident, with witnesses reporting gunshots and an SUV stopped in the road with a man lying outside and a young girl inside.
Due to the graphic nature of the body camera footage from responding officers, News4JAX only shared still images from the video.
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Murder-for-hire scheme
According to detectives, Gardner was tired of sharing custody of her twin children with Bridegan.
Fernandez, she knew, could “take care of him” because of his military background, Gardner told a friend. At least that’s what the friend told investigators as she detailed the strained marriage between Gardner and Fernandez and the contentious ongoing custody battle between Gardner and Bridegan.
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Investigators say that’s exactly what Fernandez did, hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant at one of his properties, to kill Bridegan.
In his initial interview with police in July 2022, which was also released last week, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville’s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.
He said Fernandez never talked about his personal life, and he only saw the man when he came to pick up the rent checks.
By February of 2023, however, Tenon had been arrested in the murder-for-hire plot, eventually pleading guilty and admitting to being the gunman who killed Bridegan.
Tenon’s original court records said he became involved in the conspiracy on Jan. 4, 2022 -- just over a month before Bridegan was killed.
Investigators said when Tenon was arrested on an unrelated felony driving charge in August 2022, they questioned him about Bridegan’s murder and a Ford F-150 truck they had been searching for since the shooting.
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Tenon was later arrested in Bridegan’s murder, and investigators said the single link between Tenon and Bridegan was Fernandez.
As part of his plea deal, Tenon agreed to testify against Fernandez and Gardner, but he has since changed his tune, making noise about withdrawing his guilty plea, although that has not yet happened.
“There is the belief, at least in the legal community, that Henry Tenon is going to come back and say, ‘What I told you before is not true.’ How much is not true, his involvement, what he did, Shanna Gardner’s involvement, or not, we don’t exactly know,” explained Gene Nichols, a Jacksonville attorney not affiliated with the case.
Nichols said if Tenon backtracks, he could be facing much more than the minimum 15 years in prison that are part of his plea deal. He could even become eligible for the death penalty.
“Where that gets so interesting from a trial standpoint is he’s willing to face the death penalty. Why would he do that unless he’s actually telling the truth when he backtracks? And that’s going to be a very strong argument for the defense,” Nichols said.
Gardner and Fernandez have both pleaded not guilty. They face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
The current trial date is set for Aug. 3, 2026.
More evidence to come?
Attorney Shannon Schott of Plata Schott Law, who is also not affiliated with the case, said the distant trial date leaves time for additional evidence to be disclosed.
Schott noted the state’s ongoing obligation to share information as the case progresses.
“The ultimate point is the state has an ongoing duty to disclose information, so we may continue to see more evidence coming out prior to August of 2026 when this case potentially goes to trial,” she said.
Nichols noted that the defense has already reviewed the evidence that was released last week.
“This now allows for all of us in the public to see what just an unfortunate scenario took place at that car that night,” Nichols said.
Schott =emphasized the chaotic nature of shooting scenes and the importance of multiple body camera angles in such cases. Schott is also not involved in the case.
“Most cases like this, you’re going to see a body worn camera from multiple angles. So for the defense, they have to go through all of that video evidence as well as, of course, the prosecutor,” Schott explained.
Nichols added that while the evidence release offers clarity, the state still faces the challenge of piecing together the full story amid differing public opinions.
“This is, again, of course, a tragic event that happened that night, but so many civilians are going to have different thoughts and ideas as to what happened. Now we see the chaos. The state’s job is to kind of bring it all together,” he said.