DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 The accused gunman in the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. <\/p>\n
This follows a judge\u2019s decision this week allowing Henry Tenon to withdraw his guilty plea.<\/p>\n
Court documents also show that the charges of conspiracy and accessory after the fact against Tenon have been abandoned.<\/p>\n
After hearing from prosecutors who had no objection to Tenon\u2019s motion, and from Tenon himself, who explicitly stated that he wanted a trial, Judge London Kite granted the motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis created, in essence, a third trial, but in the grand scheme, as we saw from the state of Florida today, they took the position of, \u2018Sure, we\u2019ll try this case,\u2019 and the reason why they\u2019ll try it is because Henry Tennon has already confessed to this murder,” said Gene Nichols, a defense attorney not connected to the case.<\/p>\n
READ | Henry Tenon\u2019s motion to withdraw plea<\/a><\/p>\n According to the motion filed on Friday, Tenon, who\u2019s accused of fatally shooting the 33-year-old father of four, asked the judge to let him take back his guilty plea before sentencing and proceed with a trial instead.<\/p>\n Bridegan, a Microsoft executive, was killed in an ambush-style shooting in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.<\/p>\n RELATED | 4 years later: A timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case<\/a><\/p>\n Investigators have said they believe Tenon killed Bridegan as part of a murder-for-hire scheme orchestrated by Bridegan\u2019s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her now-estranged husband, Mario Fernandez.<\/p>\n Investigators say Fernandez wrote three checks to Tenon totaling $10,000 in the weeks after the murder. <\/p>\n In his initial interview with police in July 2022, Tenon told investigators that he had been renting a home from Fernandez in Jacksonville\u2019s Biltmore neighborhood for several years.<\/p>\n In January 2023, Tenon was charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact, and child abuse. The last charge stemmed from the fact that Bridegan\u2019s toddler daughter was in the back seat of his SUV when he was killed, and a bullet narrowly missed her.<\/p>\n Tenon later pleaded guilty only to second-degree murder with a weapon under a deal requiring him to testify against Gardner and Fernandez, in exchange for dropped charges and a sentencing range starting at 15 years.<\/p>\n However, in January 2025, Tenon changed his tune, stating that his testimony against Gardner and Fernandez was false<\/a>, and he requested a new attorney.<\/p>\n