JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – News4JAX on Monday obtained the plea agreement signed Thursday by Henry Tenon, in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Jared Bridegan.
Court documents show Tenon also agrees to testify truthfully against any co-defendants. He faces at least 15 years in prison.
The sentencing judge will give weight to Tenon’s life expectancy and his “early and continuing cooperation in the prosecution of co-defendants.” Bridegan’s family will have input on Tenon’s sentence.
RELATED: How investigators say they untangled conspiracy to kill Jared Bridegan
Bridegan, 33, was shot at close range several times while his toddler daughter was still strapped into her car seat in the back of his SUV. Police said bullets fired at Bridegan went inside the car, inches from his daughter’s car seat. The St. Johns County father of four had just left the home of his ex-wife in Jacksonville Beach and stopped to move a tire out of the road, according to investigators. A tire they say was placed there intentionally.
News4JAX is still waiting to obtain Tenon’s arrest warrant. Tenon, 61, was arrested last month.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson said in a news conference Thursday that when Tenon pleaded guilty, he agreed to testify against a second person investigators say was involved in the murder plot: Mario Fernandez Saldana.
“We know Henry Tenon did not act alone, and Tenon has confirmed this to be true. His cooperation has both corroborated evidence collected during the investigation and provided additional evidence against Mario Fernandez Saldana for his role in the planning and execution of Jared’s murder,” Nelson said during a news conference last week.
Fernandez, 34, is the husband of Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez. He was arrested Thursday morning in Kissimmee and was being held in the Orange County jail.
He appeared Friday morning in Orange County court and will be transferred to Duval County to face charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.