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The former wife of a murdered Florida man, who recently lawyered up, reportedly told an employee at a tattoo salon that she wanted someone to “shut him up,” referring to her husband.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 33-year-old Jared Bridegan was shot and killed on February 16, shortly after dropping his twin children off at his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez’s, Jacksonville Beach home. Court documents indicate that Jared’s daughter, Bexley, who he shares with a second wife, was in the car with him at the time, strapped into her car seat.
Police say Jared saw a rimmed tire in the road while driving back home to St. Augustine; he stopped to check on it when an unknown assailant shot him in front of his toddler daughter before fleeing. Bexley was reportedly in the car for several minutes while her father passed away.
So far, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department hasn’t named a suspect in connection with the case and Gardner-Fernandez maintains her innocence.
Fox News reports that a tattoo parlor staffer who pierced Gardner-Fernandez’s genitals said that she asked him specifically if he knew anyone to shut her husband up.
“She had been talking to us about her divorce, and she told us her life could just be better if he could just ‘shut up’ and asked us if we knew anybody that could ‘shut him up,’” the tattoo parlor staffer said.
“I did not take it at the time as anything nefarious…In hindsight, I can see how that can be taken differently now.”
He added that he quickly bonded with Gardner-Fernandez due to his time spent living in Utah with a Mormon roommate. After the pair became friends, she reportedly stopped by the parlor frequently, where she complained that Bridegan was “trying to take all of her money.”
“She went from this goody two shoes girl to this wild lady,” he said, adding that her appearance began to change drastically from the first time he met her. “I just remember thinking, well, this is a changed woman.”
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Meanwhile, Gardner-Fernandez reportedly secured high-powered criminal defense attorney Henry Coxe III “for the purpose of seeing if steps could be taken to protect her young twins from any publicity surrounding this tragic event.”
“As for any other reason for the family to have or need counsel, whether it be myself or anyone else, there is none,” Coxe III added.
DailyMail reports that during a custody and alimony dispute between Jared and his first wife, issues became vicious and Jared accused Gardner-Fernandez of spying on him.
“This is enough!!! I should have every damn right on my own property to not constantly be under recording or monitoring by Shanna,” Jared wrote to his divorce attorney in 2015. “I want the flipping gates of Hell released on her for this.”
The pair continued to argue throughout the tumultuous divorce proceedings, with Gardner-Fernandez reportedly accusing Jared of coaching their children to make false statements about her. When she was denied an investigation into the matter, Gardner-Fernandez allegedly filed a motion against her ex in 2021, accusing him of withholding their son’s breathing machine.
“The father apparently considers his vindictiveness toward the mother more important than protecting his son’s health and life,” her lawyer wrote in the motion filing.
After his death, Gardner-Fernandez and the twins didn’t attend his memorial services, according to DailyMail.
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Jared Bridegan; Shanna Gardner-Fernandez/Facebook]
