JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Some of the previously incriminating statements made to prosecutors by the man accused of fatally shooting Jared Bridegan will not be allowed during his first-degree murder trial, Judge London Kite announced Tuesday.
But prosecutors can use the sworn statement Henry Tenon made as part of his earlier plea deal, Kite said. That sworn statement included what Tenon originally agreed to testify to against his co-defendants.
DOCUMENT: Judge order granting part of motion & denying part
Tenon initially pleaded guilty on March 16, 2023, to second‑degree murder with a weapon in the shooting death of the 33-year-old St. Johns County father of four.
The plea was made as part of a deal that required Tenon to testify against his alleged co‑conspirators -- Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and her now estranged husband, Mario Fernandez.
RELATED: Timeline of the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire case
Fernandez and Gardner are also charged with the killing of Bridegan, who was gunned down in an ambush while driving home with his toddler daughter. They have pleaded not guilty.
Tenon’s plea deal carried a sentencing range beginning at 15 years, but he has since withdrawn his guilty plea, recanting the statements he made to the State Attorney’s Office on March 15, 2023, during the negotiations.
Tenon’s attorneys filed a motion to have those statements suppressed so that jurors will not hear them in court during Tenon’s first-degree murder trial.
Tenon’s defense said that Tenon believed those conversations were protected as part of plea negotiations and said no one warned him that those statements could be used against him later if he backed out of the deal.
Prosecutors pushed back, arguing that the plea agreement had already been finalized by that point and that Tenon understood he was becoming a witness in the case.
Kite opted to grant Tenon’s motion in part and deny it in part, agreeing to block the conversations Tenon had with prosecutors during a proffer meeting (plea negotiation) on Feb. 17, 2023, but denying the request to also block his sworn statement made on March 15, 2023.
Both sides agreed that the trial date will be set at Tenon’s next pre-trial hearing, which is June 17.
Currently, potential trial dates would be in late March, early April or mid May of 2027.
Other motions being considered
Gardner’s defense attorneys are also asking Kite to throw out two court-authorized wiretaps placed on her cellphone, Apple Watch and her sister’s cellphone, arguing that police lacked the legal basis to capture the conversations in the first place.
A Jacksonville Beach Police Department detective submitted a probable cause affidavit in support of the wiretap application. According to the defense, that affidavit was loaded with evidence against others — surveillance footage, location data, financial records and a Google search for a 10 mm pistol by J.B. — but offered very little when it came to Gardner herself.
“The January Affidavit provided scant information against Ms. Gardner,” the motion states, noting it was limited to her relationship with the victim and with Fernandez, an alleged motive tied to a dispute that occurred years earlier, and three checks written to Tenon — checks signed by Fernandez Saldana, not Gardner.
Gardner’s defense argues there was no surveillance footage, no location data, no controlled calls and no incriminating statements tying Gardner to the crime.
Gardner’s attorneys also filed a motion to block testimony from Bridegan’s daughter, Bexley, arguing that she was only 2 years old at the time of the shooting.
Gardner will be in court again on June 1, when she could learn whether the judge will grant her attorneys’ motions. Fernandez will also be in court again on June 1.
Kite previously granted a request to sever their cases, and the estranged couple will be tried separately.