As it now stands, Mario Fernandez-Saladana’s trial will begin Aug. 17, with jury selection slated for Aug. 10. Shanna Gardner’s trial will begin Sept. 8.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The judge presiding over the Jared Bridegan murder case ruled Thursday, allowing two co-defendants to be tried separately.
Judge London Kite agreed to move forward with separate trials and separate juries for Shanna Gardner and Mario Fernandez-Saldana.
As it now stands, Fernandez-Saladana’s trial will begin Aug. 17, with jury selection slated for Aug. 10, while Gardner’s trial will begin Sept. 8, with jury selection set to start Aug. 31.
A panel of 250 people are expected to be selected as potential jurors for Fernandez-Saldana, while 500 people are expected to be picked as potential jurors for Gardner.
After Fernandez’s attorney expressed concern about Fernandez’s verdict remaining sealed until the outcome of Gardner’s trial, Kite ruled that Fernandez’s verdict will be revealed once the jury reaches it.
At the last hearing, the state mentioned that they have been intending on Henry Tenon, the accused hitman, to be tried separately from Gardner and Fernandez. As of Thursday, Tenon does not yet have a date for his trial set.
Fernandez, 37, and Gardner, 39, are each charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse in Bridegan’s murder. Tenon, 65, is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact.
Police and prosecutors have called Bridegan’s killing a “murder-for-hire plot” orchestrated by Gardner, his ex-wife, and her second husband, Fernandez-Saldana. Bridegan was shot and killed just after dropping he and Gardner’s children off at her home in Jacksonville Beach on Feb. 16, 2022.