The killing of Jared Bridegan occurred on February 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

senior design manager, was shot and killed after he dropped off his older twins at his ex-wife's house. In January 2023, Henry Tenon was arrested for Bridegan's murder. In March 2023, a second suspect, Mario Fernandez Saldana, was arrested in

Orange County, Florida Orange County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,429,908, making it the fifth-most populous county in Florida and the List of ...

. The grand jury indicted the suspect with charges of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence defined by the intent to commit murder. England and Wales The offence of conspiracy to murder was created in statutory law by section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and retained as an ...

, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

. In August 2023, a third suspect, Shanna Gardner, ex-wife of the victim and wife of the second suspect, was arrested and indicted on the same charges. Tenon accepted a

plea deal A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...

, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The other two suspects pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are seeking the capital penalty against the suspects. The trial is expected to take place in late 2025.

Jared Bridegan

Jared Galen Bridegan was born on June 29, 1988, in Warrensburg,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, to Gaylord and JoAnn Bridegan. He was raised in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, and attended

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. In 2014, he graduated from

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah, United States. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July ...

, with a B.S. degree in

Digital Media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

. He worked in various technology and design roles, including at Clean Simple Eats,

Web.com Web.com is an American dot-com company that provides a website builder, along with website hosting, domain name registration, web development, and various digital marketing services. It serves as a partner for very small to small-sized bu ...

, and

. In April 2010, Bridegan married his first wife in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. Bridegan and his first wife had two children together. In 2015, they divorced. Bridegan married his second wife, Kirsten, a woman from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, with whom he had two children. At that time, Bridegan was a 33-year-old man and lived in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

Killing

On February 16, 2022, Bridegan drove from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach to drop off his 9-year-old twin children at his ex-wife's home, with his 2-year-old daughter in the backseat of his

Volkswagen Atlas The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US, C ...

. Bridegan was driving home when he stopped between Jacksonville Drive and Sanctuary Boulevard because a tire was in the middle of the road. When he got out of the car to move the tire, he was shot and killed. Some bullets passed through the car, inches away from Bridegan's daughter. Around 8 p.m., Jacksonville Beach police officers responded to reports of shots fired in the area. The police found Bridegan's body with multiple gunshot wounds, next to his car.

Investigation

The State Attorney's Office and the Jacksonville Beach Police Department were certain that the killing was premeditated and even rehearsed. The details from the investigation of Bridegan's killing were not made public, but it was mentioned that Bridegan was involved in a custody battle with his ex-wife. His ex-wife was living in

West Richland, Washington West Richland is a city in Benton County, Washington. The population was 16,295 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is part of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, whose principal cities (the Tri-Cities) are Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco ...

, with her children after the killing. According to the police, a blue

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since model year 1948 as a range of full-sized pickup trucks — positioned between Ford's Ranger and Super Duty pickup trucks. Alongs ...

was seen on a security video at the time of the murder. Henry Tenon, a then 61-year-old man, was considered a person of interest because he drove a blue Ford F-150 and was a former tenant at one of the suspect's homes. Tenon's cellphone records indicated he was in Jacksonville Beach the night of the killing. Tenon also had a criminal history. Tenon said a friend borrowed the truck that night. Tenon requested an attorney after police questioned him. On October 14, police found three checks totaling $10,000 in Tenon's bank accounts. There were checks for $2,000 and $3,000 that were cashed on March 28 and a check for $5,000 that was cashed on April 4. All of the checks were signed by one of the suspects.

Arrests

In January 2023, Tenon was arrested and charged with

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

with a weapon and accessory after the fact to a capital felony. After the arrest warrant, phone records revealed that Tenon and one of the suspects had 35 calls in February, 30 calls in March, and additional calls between May and June. Tenon accepted a

, pleading guilty to second-degree murder, with the other charges dropped and agreed to testify in the trial. Tenon confessed and accepted that he was the triggerman. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In March 2023, Mario Fernandez-Saldana - the husband of the victim's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez - was arrested in

. A grand jury indicted him on charges of

, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and

. In August 2023, Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, was indicted by the grand jury on the same charges. Both pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are seeking the capital penalty against the suspects.

Legacy

After Jared's murder, his widow Kirsten Bridegan started the Bridegan foundation in his honor. The foundation has created the "Bexley Box" to donate to police departments and sheriff's offices, first in Florida and then around the country. These boxes contain basic necessities and comfort items for a children, such as toys, sippy cups, diapers in assorted sizes, and blankets. Their goal is to "make children's experiences at police stations a little less traumatic and scary".

References