Jared Bridegan — The Murder of a Tech Executive in Florida

A father on his way home with his young daughter

On February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan — 33 years old and a senior design manager at Microsoft — was driving along Sanctuary Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. With him in the car was his and ex-wife Shanna Gardner's two-year-old daughter, Bexley, whom he had just picked up following a custody exchange. It was a routine handover — one of many during a long and conflict-ridden divorce process.

Suddenly, there was an obstacle in the middle of the road. Bridegan stopped his car because a tire was blocking the road. As he stepped out of the vehicle, one or more perpetrators opened fire on him. He was struck by multiple gunshots and died at the scene. Little Bexley sat alone in the car waiting when neighbors, drawn by the sound of gunfire, discovered the scene minutes later.

Victim and background

Jared Bridegan held a degree in digital media and had built a career in the technology industry. He lived in St. Augustine, Florida, and made the drive to Jacksonville Beach regularly for custody exchanges with his wife Kirsten Bridegan and their two young children. From his first marriage to Shanna Gardner, he had twins Mason and Zoe, as well as young Bexley. Friends and colleagues described Jared as a devoted father and a calm, easy-going person — not a man with obvious enemies.

His divorce from Shanna Gardner, however, had been anything but peaceful. It dragged on for years, cost both parties enormous sums in legal fees, and was marked by bitter disputes over custody and finances. Friends of Jared described Shanna as controlling and vindictive, and according to close acquaintances, Jared had expressed concerns about his personal safety in the months leading up to the murder.

The investigation points to the ex-wife's circle

Police in Jacksonville Beach immediately launched a massive investigation. Detectives quickly focused on the people connected to Jared Bridegan's divorce proceedings. Surveillance footage, phone data, and witness statements slowly began to paint a picture of a planned, premeditated murder.

In August 2022, Henry Tenon — a tenant who rented a home from Mario Fernandez Saldana — was arrested on an unrelated charge in Florida and, during questioning, became linked to the murder. Investigators believed from the outset that Tenon had acted on orders, and that someone had paid him to kill Jared Bridegan.

In 2023, Tenon pleaded guilty and admitted to being the gunman who killed Jared Bridegan — but he has since filed a motion to withdraw that plea and told his attorneys he will no longer testify against Shanna Gardner or Mario Fernandez Saldana, who he said had hired him.

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez charged with murder

In August 2023 — eighteen months after the killing — Shanna Gardner-Fernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Mario Fernandez Saldana was likewise charged with participating in the planning and financing of the murder. The arrests sent shockwaves through the affluent suburban community of Jacksonville Beach, where the family's clean, respectable image had been well established.

The indictment described a scenario in which Shanna Gardner-Fernandez had allegedly recruited and paid for the murder of her ex-husband, motivated by bitterness over the custody arrangements and the substantial sums she had been ordered to pay Jared in the custody case. Mario Fernandez Saldana was believed to have financed the operation.

The case attracted enormous media attention across the United States, not least because two-year-old Bexley had been sitting just feet away from her father as he was killed — a detail that shook even seasoned crime reporters.

The case today

Gardner and Fernandez Saldana have both pleaded not guilty and remain under indictment for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors initially said they would seek the death penalty against both but later dropped that option, with the support of Jared Bridegan's widow and family.

Gardner's case has faced repeated delays from procedural issues and changes in legal representation. As of this writing, neither Gardner nor Fernandez Saldana has gone to trial; a trial date has been set.

No verdict has been reached in either case so far.

Four children without a father

Jared Bridegan's death left behind his twins Mason and Zoe and his daughter Bexley from his marriage to Shanna Gardner, and two more children from his marriage to Kirsten Bridegan. His widow, Kirsten Bridegan, has since the killing waged a public campaign for justice, speaking out in the media to keep the case in the spotlight. She established a foundation in Jared's memory and has spoken openly about how the case affected the family and the children left behind.

The case has been held up as a chilling example of how family conflict and the bitterness of divorce can, in the most extreme circumstances, escalate into cold-blooded murder — and of the incalculable human cost it leaves in its wake.