The State Attorney’s Office, Jacksonville Beach Police Department and ATF Jacksonville will announce a significant development Thursday in the investigation into the February 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan.
News4JAX will stream the 1:15 p.m. news conference live online and on News4JAX+.
The murder of the father of four received national attention in 2022 when Bridegan, 33, was gunned down while trying to move a tire blocking the road.
Bridegan was shot several times at close range around 8 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022, with his then-2 1/2-year-old-year-old daughter in the backseat of his SUV near the Sanctuary neighborhood in south Jacksonville Beach. The girl was not injured.
Related: Man accused of orchestrating Jared Bridegan’s murder appears briefly in court
Mario Fernandez, 34, who is married to Bridegan’s ex-wife, was arrested in March of this year and is accused of orchestrating the murder conspiracy that ended with Bridegan’s death. Fernandez faces charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.
Fernandez pleaded not guilty to the charges against him when he was arraigned in July, and prosecutors have said they are not offering him a plea deal in the case.
According to his indictment, Fernandez wrote three checks to the confessed gunman, Henry Tenon. Fernandez had been Tenon’s landlord, and investigators say phone records revealed more than 70 calls between the men before and after Bridegan’s murder.
Tenon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for fatally shooting Bridegan and has agreed to testify against Fernandez and anyone else who might be charged. Tenon faces a minimum of 15 years in prison as part of the plea agreement.
Suspicions had been raised about the possible involvement of Fernandez’s wife — Bridegan’s ex-wife — in the conspiracy, but she has not been charged and maintains her innocence in connection with the case.