Shanna Gardner-Fernandez charged with orchestrating the murder-for-hire of Jared Bridegan

An executive shot on a dark road

On the evening of February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan was driving along Prichard Road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, when he spotted a tire and wagon placed in the middle of the road. He stopped his car and got out to move the obstruction — and was immediately shot multiple times at close range. His two-year-old daughter, whom he had just picked up from his ex-wife, was sitting in the back seat and survived unharmed. Bridegan, 33 years old and a senior director at technology giant Microsoft, died at the scene.

The murder shocked the affluent coastal community of Jacksonville Beach and immediately triggered a massive investigation by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The seemingly deliberate placement of the tire in the road quickly pointed investigators toward a premeditated killing — not a random attack.

Who was Jared Bridegan?

Jared Bridegan was a highly respected technology leader who had built a successful career at Microsoft. He was the father of four children — twins from his first marriage to Shanna Gardner and two younger children with his new wife, Kirsten Bridegan. Friends and colleagues described him as dedicated, caring and professionally driven. In the period leading up to his murder, he had been engaged in a prolonged and bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife over the twins.

That custody battle would prove to be a central thread running through the entire .