JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Just one day after he was found guilty in the 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan, Mario Fernandez Saldana is facing new criminal charges.
According to Duval County Court records, Fernandez Saldana is now charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. One of the charges includes the descriptor “lewd/lascivious molestation - offender 18 or older against victim less than 12 years old.”
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Fernandez Saldana was found guilty in Bridegan’s murder after four hours of deliberations on Wednesday afternoon.
The new charges Fernandez Saldana faces is one of the reasons his estranged wife, Shanna Gardner, asked for and was granted a continuance for her trial in Bridegan’s murder.
Gardner and suspected gunman Henry Tenon are now tentatively scheduled to go on trial at the same time in May for Bridegan’s murder.
Fernandez Saldana made his first appearance in front of a judge on the new charges on Thursday afternoon.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on those charges on Thursday, Sept. 17.
The first alleged incident
Action News Jax has obtained the arrest report for the charge “lewd/lascivious molestation - offender 18 or older against victim less than 12 years old.” It states that the alleged offenses happened “on or between April 20, 2020 to April 20, 2021.″
That report contains the arrest warrant, which states that the victim was interviewed “at a location outside the state of Florida” on May 6, 2025.
The victim told investigators that Fernandez Saldana “would enter her bedroom” at a Jacksonville home and would touch her private area “under her clothing with his hand.”
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She said, according to the warrant, that this started when she was eight years old but “was unable to recall the last time that it happened” and it “went on for many years.”
A month before investigators interviewed her, a family member asked her while on a family vacation if Fernandez Saldana “molested” her and she said no," the warrant said. “However,” the warrant continued, “there was a concern about (redacted) understanding the term ‘molestation’” but this was later clarified.
The warrant also noted that Fernandez Saldana is “listed as a suspect in a second SAU investigation, involving another juvenile victim.”
The second alleged incident
The victim in the other case was interviewed on Aug. 24, 2026 “in person at a location outside of the State of Florida.”
The warrant for the second SAU investigation states that the alleged offense happened on March 11, 2022, which is just less than a month after Bridegan was murdered.
The victim told investigators “she stayed at the Jacksonville residence of the Suspect and his wife, Shanna Gardner,” on March 10, 2022, the warrant said.
On March 11, 2022, the victim said, according to the warrant, “she was asleep in the morning hours and by herself in (redacted) bed when the Suspect got into the bed with her and ‘spooned’ her.”
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The victim said she was alone in the house with Fernandez Saldana, the warrant said, “due to (redacted) and (redacted) going to school, and Shanna Gardner was out delivering cakes for her business.”
The warrant said the victim said she was “laying on the bed in a ball-like position with her knees curled up towards her, and the Suspect’s entire body was pressed against her.”
The victim said Fernandez Saldana was grinding his privates against her clothed buttocks “until she got up and locked herself in the bathroom,” the warrant said. When she left the bathroom, the victim said Fernandez Saldana was no longer in the bedroom, the warrant said.
The killing of Jared Bridegan
Jared Bridegan, a St. Johns County father of four, was gunned down Feb. 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach. He had just taken his twins, Abby and Liam, whom he shared with ex-wife Shanna Gardner, and his then-2-year-old Bexley, his daughter with wife Kirsten Bridegan, to dinner.
The software engineer had just dropped off the twins at Gardner’s house when he encountered a tire on Sanctuary Boulevard, a one-way road in Jacksonville Beach. He was headed home to his second wife, Kirsten Bridegan, with whom he shared children Bexley and London.
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said during the announcement of the first arrest in January 2023, that “the tire was purposely placed there to make him stop, which he did.”
“Tragically he began to exit his vehicle to move the tire and he was gunned down in cold blood,” Smith said. Bridegan was shot several times while Bexley was still strapped into a car seat in the back seat of Bridegan’s car.
The suspects
Mario Fernandez Saldana, Gardner’s estranged husband, was arrested in March 2023 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, child abuse, and solicitation to commit a capital felony. He’s accused of hiring Henry Tenon to kill Jared Bridegan.
In July 2026, two of the charges Fernandez Saldana was facing, child abuse and conspiracy to commit murder, were dropped. He has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges he’s facing. His trial began Aug. 10, 2026 with jury selection. On Aug. 26, 2026, after four hours of deliberations, a jury found Fernandez Saldana guilty on both charges.
Henry Tenon’s arrest in connection to Bridegan’s murder was announced in January 2023. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact to a capital felony, child abuse, and second-degree murder. He’s accused of shooting and killing Jared Bridegan.
Tenon, who rented a home from Fernandez Saldana, initially agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. In February 2026, Tenon decided to withdraw his guilty plea. He is now set to go to trial in March 2027.
Shanna Gardner was arrested in August 2023 in Washington and is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder, and child abuse. She has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
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