Ex-Wife of Slain Microsoft Executive Hires Criminal Defense Lawyer

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33-year-old Jared Bridegan was a Microsoft executive who was mysteriously shot dead in front of his 2-year-old daughter.

The incident occurred on February 16th after Bridegan dropped off his twins at the home of his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez near Jacksonville Beach in Florida.

As Bridegan was driving home to St. Augustine, he came upon a tire in the road and stopped.

2-year-old Bexley was strapped in her car seat, police say. Once Bridegan stepped out of his vehicle, an unknown assailant shot and killed him in front of the terrified child.

The assailant fled the scene.

The 2-year-old remained in the car until a passerby stumbled on the horrific scene and called police.

Bridegan’s ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, has reportedly hired a criminal defense lawyer as new details have emerged about the pair’s angry split.

At the time of the murder, Bridegan’s second wife Kirsten Bridegan was at home with the couple’s 7-month-old daughter, London.

More on this story via Fox News:

The shocking murder remains unsolved, and the Jacksonville Beach Police Department has not publicly named a suspect.

But Gardner-Fernandez and her husband, Mario Fernandez, are now represented by high-powered criminal defense attorney Henry Coxe III.

Coxe, the former president of the Florida Bar, “specializes in serious federal and state criminal matters,” according to his bio on the Bedell Firm website. Under the heading “Area of Practice,” the bio lists only “criminal defense.”

Coxe told Fox News Digital that he was retained by the couple “for the purpose of seeing if steps could be taken to protect her young twins from any publicity surrounding this tragic event.” He continued, “As for any other reason for the family to have or need counsel, whether it be myself or anyone else, there is none.”

The brutal slaying has brought Bridegan’s relationship with his ex-wife into sharp relief, as detectives search for clues.