FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Chapman
Phone: (904) 255-3004
Cell: (904) 524-6626
ChapmanD@coj.net
August 17, 2023
GARDNER INDICTED, ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF EX-HUSBAND JARED BRIDEGAN
Through the diligent work of several law enforcement agencies, State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that Shanna Gardner was indicted by a Duval County grand jury and arrested on charges of First-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder, Solicitation to Commit a Capital Felony, and Child Abuse. All the charges are related to the February 2022 murder of Gardner’s ex-husband, Jared Bridegan.
Gardner was arrested in West Richland, Washington, on Aug. 17, 2023, by a law enforcement team comprising ATF and the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. The grand jury indicted Gardner just prior to her arrest.
Two codefendants, Henry Tenon and Mario Fernandez Saldana, were indicted and arrested in January 2023 and March 2023, respectively. Fernandez Saldana is Gardner’s current husband. Tenon was a tenant of Fernandez Saldana’s — he has pleaded guilty to his role in the crime and agreed to testify truthfully against his co-defendants.
Shortly before 8 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan was found lying in the roadway of the 4000 block of Sanctuary Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Immediately before his murder, Bridegan had dropped off his 9-year-old twin children, whom he shared with Gardner, at the home she shared with Fernandez-Saldana. This was part of a routine “date night” Bridegan had with the twins and his 2-year-old daughter from his current marriage.
Consistent with the route he normally traveled home, Bridegan turned onto Sanctuary Boulevard to access J. Turner Butler. At a dark stretch of road, he encountered a tire in the middle of the road. When Bridegan stopped the car and began to exit the vehicle to remove the tire, he was shot several times in front of his 2-year-old who was still strapped to a car seat in the back seat.
“This investigation has uncovered the truth of Jared’s murder,” said State Attorney Melissa Nelson. “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.”
The case has been investigated by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department and ATF Jacksonville with assistance from numerous law enforcement agencies in Florida and Washington. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Christina Stifler and Alan Mizrahi.