JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mario Fernandez Saldana is now facing two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a minor less than twelve years old. The charges come just twenty-four hours after he was convicted of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the 2022 killing of Jared Bridegan.
Shanna Gardner returned to the Duval County courthouse Thursday afternoon for a hearing just days before jury selection was set to begin in her murder trial. Prosecutors say she conspired with her estranged husband, Fernandez Saldana, to hire someone to kill her ex-husband, Bridegan.
Fernandez Saldana appeared before a judge Wednesday on the new molestation charges.
According to an arrest report, officers say one victim told investigators that the abuse began when she was about eight years old. She reported that Fernandez-Saldana came into her room and touched her private area under her clothing. Officers say she described multiple incidents and that Fernandez-Saldana is also listed as a suspect in a second investigation involving another minor.
“The unopposed motion to continue the trial date will be granted,” Judge London Kite said in Gardner’s hearing.
Gardner’s trial, originally set to begin next week, will now be pushed to next year. The delay is partly due to the new charges against Fernandez Saldana and partly because the defense recently disclosed new expert witnesses who still need to be interviewed.
Judge Kite acknowledged those factors in court.
For Fernandez Saldana, the judge ordered a seventy-five-thousand-dollar bond and no contact with victims, witnesses, or codefendants.
Gardner is expected to stand trial at the same time as Henry Tenon, the man investigators say carried out the shooting that killed Bridegan.
That trial date is scheduled for May 3 at 9 a.m.
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