JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of the men accused of plotting to kill St. Johns County father of four Jared Bridegan in 2022 is expected to find out Thursday if he could be released from jail while his case moves through the judicial process.
Mario Fernandez, who was previously denied bond in what prosecutors are calling a murder-for-hire case, has been in the Duval County jail since his arrest in March of 2023, three years ago.
Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and Fernandez, her now estranged husband, are both under indictment for first-degree murder and other charges in the February 2022 ambush shooting. They have each pleaded not guilty.
Now, Fernandez’s attorneys are saying his case has changed, and an opportunity to be released on bond needs to reflect the new circumstances.
Just days after the man accused of pulling the trigger was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea -- saying he no longer intends to testify against Fernandez and Gardner -- Fernandez’s attorneys outlined their request for the judge to consider releasing Fernandez on bond.
That accused gunman, Henry Tenon, was paid, according to prosecutors, by Fernandez, his former landlord, to kill Bridegan.
But Fernandez’s attorneys argue his arrest in the case is based on what Tenon originally told investigators, which he is now calling into question.
They also point out in their motion that although Fernandez was a person of interest in Bridegan’s murder, he didn’t try to run from the investigation. And, they said, he’s willing to turn over his passport if he’s released.
Judge London Kite will consider the motion at a pre-trial hearing Thursday at 9 a.m. It’s unlikely to be granted, as Duval County murder defendants are rarely released on bond.
Earlier this week, the State Attorney’s office released a batch of evidence in the case, which included two interview clips with a woman who was friends with Shanna.
She told investigators a year after Jared Bridegan’s 2022 murder that she didn’t think Fernandez would be involved in a “hitman” situation.
Since he’s been in jail, Fernandez’s finances have “become limited,” his attorneys say, and if bond is approved, it would be paid by his siblings.
Timeline: How we got here
A little over four years ago, Jared Bridegan dropped his then-9-year-old twin children off at the home of his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, after a “date night” with their dad.
He left Gardner’s Jacksonville Beach home on Feb. 16, 2022, with his 2-year-old daughter, Bexley, strapped in her car seat in the back of his dark-colored SUV. They were headed back to St. Augustine.
But the 33-year-old Microsoft executive never made it home.
Following his normal route through the Sanctuary neighborhood, Bridegan suddenly had to stop in the area of Jacksonville Drive, America Avenue and Sanctuary Boulevard.
A tire was in the road.
When Bridegan stepped out of his SUV, he was ambushed by gunfire. At least one bullet missed Bexley by mere inches in her car seat.
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Bridegan was left lying in the street next to the SUV with the door wide open, and the shooter seemed to melt into the shadows just as quickly as he had launched his ambush attack.
None of the 911 callers that night mentioned seeing a shooter or a vehicle leaving the scene.
LISTEN: Press play below to hear 911 calls from night of Jared Bridegan’s murder (WARNING: May include graphic content)
But eventually, detectives tracked down the man they say pulled the trigger.
Investigators say that it was all part of a murder-for-hire plot set in motion by Gardner and her new husband, Mario Fernandez. It was a conspiracy that began in November of 2021, according to court documents.
Interactive Timeline
Alleged 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, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville’s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.
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.
In 2023, Tenon pleaded guilty and admitted to being the gunman who killed Bridegan, but he has since backtracked, and a judge granted his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
He said he will no longer testify against Gardner or Fernandez, who are both under indictment for first-degree murder.
Gardner and Fernandez have both pleaded not guilty. State prosecutors initially said they would be seeking the death penalty against both if they were convicted, but they have since taken the death penalty off the table, with the support of Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten, and his family.