JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Henry Tenon, the man accused of gunning down father of four Jared Bridegan in a February 2022 ambush shooting, appeared in court for the first time Wednesday under his newly filed indictment.
The cases of Tenon and Shanna Gardner, Bridegan’s ex-wife, have now been combined, after prosecutors took their cases back to the grand jury.
The state has now charged Tenon, 65, with only first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Gardner, 39, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Three of Tenon’s charges — child abuse, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact — were dropped; and Gardner had two charges dropped: child abuse and solicitation to commit a capital felony.
Prosecutors formally updated the court on Wednesday about Tenon’s charges, and Judge London Kite confirmed the new dates for Tenon and Gardner to be tried together.
Jury selection will be the week of May 3, 2027, with three weeks of trial scheduled to start May 10, 2027.
After a week-long trial in August, Mario Fernandez, Gardner’s estranged husband, was found guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in Bridegan’s killing.
Tenon is a former tenant at a property owned by Fernandez, and prosecutors have said that Gardner and Fernandez conspired together to hire him to kill Bridegan, after years of contentious custody disputes over the twins Gardner and Bridegan shared.
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The twins were 9 years old when Bridegan was murdered on Feb. 16, 2022.
The Microsoft employee had stopped to move a tire that was blocking his way home after dropping off the twins with Gardner. Prosecutors say it was a ruse to get him out of the vehicle and that Tenon’s DNA was found on that tire.
The child abuse charge all three defendants once faced had stemmed from the fact that Bridegan’s toddler daughter was with him when he was gunned down and was narrowly missed by a bullet while she was strapped in her car seat.
Prosecutors had initially planned to try Gardner immediately after Fernandez, but new child sex charges filed against Fernandez the day after his conviction forced a delay.
Because the charges have the potential to alter Gardner’s defense strategy, both the state and defense agreed the trial should be postponed.
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