JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Court TV) — Prosecutors have filed notice that they no longer plan to seek the death penalty for a woman and her husband who are accused of having a Microsoft executive gunned down.
Shanna Gardner and her husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, appeared in court together on Dec. 1, 2023. (Court TV)
Shanna Gardner and Mario Fernandez Saldana are charged with the murder of Gardner’s ex-husband, Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan. Bridegan was gunned down in the street shortly after dropping off the two children he shared with Gardner. At the time of the murder, Bridegan’s youngest child was strapped into a car seat in the back seat; she was not harmed.
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A new filing from the prosecution says they are withdrawing their initial notice to seek the death penalty, which had been filed on Nov. 3, 2023. This means that the maximum penalty for Gardner and Fernandez is life in prison if they are convicted.
Prosecutors did not offer any explanation for why they no longer plan to seek the death penalty, but the filing comes days after the confessed hitman in Bridegan’s death changed his story. Henry Tenon, who pleaded guilty to Bridegan’s murder and agreed to testify that he had been hired to kill him, told attorneys in the case that he was second-guessing his decision to cooperate.
Gardner and Fernandez are due to return to court in December for pretrial hearings.
