JACKSONVILLE: The ex-wife of a Microsoft govt who was gunned down by a triggerman in entrance of his younger daughter has been charged with first-degree homicide, and prosecutors in Florida plan to hunt the demise penalty.
A grand jury indicted Shanna Lee Gardner within the ambush-style demise of Jared Bridegan, State Lawyer Melissa Nelson introduced Thursday at a information convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Gardner, 36, was arrested in West Richland, Washington, and might be extradited to Florida to face trial, Nelson mentioned.
“From very, very early on, every part in my physique and soul informed me she was behind it,” Kristen Bridegan, Jared Bridegan’s spouse, mentioned throughout the information convention.
Hank Coxe, who represents Gardner, mentioned through e-mail that he doesn’t touch upon pending circumstances.
The state can also be searching for the demise penalty towards Gardner’s husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, who was arrested in March and charged in Bridegan’s demise. His lawyer, Jesse Dreicer, mentioned in an e-mail that his shopper has pleaded not responsible and is presumed harmless. “We’re devoted to his protection and are optimistic that when the all the information are made out there our shopper might be exonerated,” he wrote.
He was arrested after triggerman Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, pleaded responsible to second-degree homicide, courtroom data present. He agreed to testify towards Fernandez Saldana and Gardner, Nelson mentioned.
Nelson didn’t say what led to Gardner’s arrest or point out a motive.
“Henry Tenon didn’t act alone. Mario Fernandez didn’t plan alone. And Shanna Gardner’s indictment acknowledges her central and key function within the chilly, calculated and premeditated homicide of Jared Bridegan,” Nelson mentioned.
Bridegan, a father of 4 and a software program developer for Microsoft, was ambushed on Feb. 16, 2022, as he was leaving a Jacksonville Seashore neighborhood after dropping off twin youngsters he shared with Gardner and returning to his dwelling in close by St. Augustine.
Police mentioned that there was a tire within the dimly lit road and that Bridegan presumably opened his automotive door to maneuver the tire. That is when he was shot a number of occasions as his 2-year-old daughter sat in her automotive seat. She was discovered unhurt within the automotive.
Gardner married Fernandez Saldana in 2018 and moved to Washington following media protection of the case, officers mentioned.
After the killing, she informed information retailers, together with the Florida Instances-Union and FirstCoast Information, that she wasn’t concerned in Bridegan’s demise.
A warrant for Gardner’s arrest mentioned an investigation into Bridegan’s background revealed the couple had a “extremely acrimonious divorce” and a “contentious relationship” with each Gardner and Fernandez Saldana.
Gardner’s mother and father, Shelli and Sterling Gardner, issued a press release.
“Phrases can’t precisely specific the depth of our unhappiness,” they mentioned. “Household is our high precedence. We love our daughter and are centered on supporting her and our complete household as we assist our grandchildren navigate this troublesome and really complicated time. For his or her sake and all concerned, we warning towards additional hypothesis and request privateness because the authorized course of runs its course.”
Kristin Bridegan mentioned the arrest ends one chapter.
“Shanna’s arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit of justice for Jared and now we open a brand new one,” she mentioned. “This subsequent chapter might be excruciating. … We count on justice to be carried out to the fullest extent of the legislation.”
A grand jury indicted Shanna Lee Gardner within the ambush-style demise of Jared Bridegan, State Lawyer Melissa Nelson introduced Thursday at a information convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Gardner, 36, was arrested in West Richland, Washington, and might be extradited to Florida to face trial, Nelson mentioned.
“From very, very early on, every part in my physique and soul informed me she was behind it,” Kristen Bridegan, Jared Bridegan’s spouse, mentioned throughout the information convention.
Hank Coxe, who represents Gardner, mentioned through e-mail that he doesn’t touch upon pending circumstances.
The state can also be searching for the demise penalty towards Gardner’s husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, who was arrested in March and charged in Bridegan’s demise. His lawyer, Jesse Dreicer, mentioned in an e-mail that his shopper has pleaded not responsible and is presumed harmless. “We’re devoted to his protection and are optimistic that when the all the information are made out there our shopper might be exonerated,” he wrote.
He was arrested after triggerman Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, pleaded responsible to second-degree homicide, courtroom data present. He agreed to testify towards Fernandez Saldana and Gardner, Nelson mentioned.
Nelson didn’t say what led to Gardner’s arrest or point out a motive.
“Henry Tenon didn’t act alone. Mario Fernandez didn’t plan alone. And Shanna Gardner’s indictment acknowledges her central and key function within the chilly, calculated and premeditated homicide of Jared Bridegan,” Nelson mentioned.
Bridegan, a father of 4 and a software program developer for Microsoft, was ambushed on Feb. 16, 2022, as he was leaving a Jacksonville Seashore neighborhood after dropping off twin youngsters he shared with Gardner and returning to his dwelling in close by St. Augustine.
Police mentioned that there was a tire within the dimly lit road and that Bridegan presumably opened his automotive door to maneuver the tire. That is when he was shot a number of occasions as his 2-year-old daughter sat in her automotive seat. She was discovered unhurt within the automotive.
Gardner married Fernandez Saldana in 2018 and moved to Washington following media protection of the case, officers mentioned.
After the killing, she informed information retailers, together with the Florida Instances-Union and FirstCoast Information, that she wasn’t concerned in Bridegan’s demise.
A warrant for Gardner’s arrest mentioned an investigation into Bridegan’s background revealed the couple had a “extremely acrimonious divorce” and a “contentious relationship” with each Gardner and Fernandez Saldana.
Gardner’s mother and father, Shelli and Sterling Gardner, issued a press release.
“Phrases can’t precisely specific the depth of our unhappiness,” they mentioned. “Household is our high precedence. We love our daughter and are centered on supporting her and our complete household as we assist our grandchildren navigate this troublesome and really complicated time. For his or her sake and all concerned, we warning towards additional hypothesis and request privateness because the authorized course of runs its course.”
Kristin Bridegan mentioned the arrest ends one chapter.
“Shanna’s arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit of justice for Jared and now we open a brand new one,” she mentioned. “This subsequent chapter might be excruciating. … We count on justice to be carried out to the fullest extent of the legislation.”
