Detective Links Mario Fernandez to $10,000 Checks in Jared Bridegan Murder Trial
Updated
Updated · WJXT News4JAX · Aug 18
Detective Links Mario Fernandez to $10,000 Checks in Jared Bridegan Murder Trial
3 articles · Updated · WJXT News4JAX · Aug 18
Summary
Prosecutors on Tuesday played a 50-minute police interview and elicited testimony from lead detective Chris Johns tying Mario Fernandez to three checks totaling $10,000 that investigators say connected him to alleged gunman Henry Tenon.
Johns said business check stubs found in a blue two-tone F-150 matched the checks Fernandez wrote to Tenon, while boots, a jacket and Tenon’s distinctive gait were presented as matching the shooter seen fleeing the scene.
Video evidence traced the truck’s movements before the Feb. 16, 2022 ambush, when Jared Bridegan stopped for a tire placed in the road and was shot twice with his toddler daughter in the SUV.
Defense lawyers argued the state still cannot prove who drove the truck or solicited Tenon, highlighting a 32-minute gap in surveillance footage and contending the payments were for legitimate work at Fernandez’s rental property.
The state says the killing grew out of years of custody conflict involving Bridegan’s ex-wife Shanna Gardner, who faces a separate September trial, while Tenon is set for trial in March 2027 after withdrawing a guilty plea.
With the alleged hitman withdrawing his plea, can prosecutors still prove the business checks were for murder rather than landscaping?
How did a bitter custody battle escalate into a staged roadside execution, and what secrets remain hidden in the failed wiretap?
The August 2026 Mario Fernandez Trial: Circumstantial Evidence, Jailhouse Informants, and the Battle Over a $10,000 Motive
Overview
The August 2026 trial of Mario Fernandez centers on the alleged murder-for-hire of Jared Bridegan, rooted in a bitter custody dispute between Bridegan and his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner. Prosecutors claim Fernandez and Gardner orchestrated the killing, pointing to $10,000 in checks Fernandez wrote to Henry Tenon, who later withdrew his guilty plea and refused to testify. With no direct witness, the state relies on circumstantial evidence, including matching tires from Fernandez’s property to the crime scene and check stubs found in Tenon’s truck. The trial’s outcome will shape Gardner’s upcoming trial, as both face life sentences if convicted.