The widow of slain Microsoft manager Jared Bridegan has blasted an agreement announced last week that gives guardianship of two of his children to the parents of his accused killer.
The 12-year-old twins have been living with Shelli and Sterling Gardner since their mother, Shanna Gardner, was arrested more than a year ago for her alleged role in their father’s February 2022 murder.
Bridegan’s widow and the mother of his two younger children criticized the arrangement in a social media post.
“My heart is heavier than usual this week,” Kirsten Bridegan wrote on the Justice for Jared B. Instagram page. “This isn’t what Jared would have wanted and this isn’t what I want, but some things are out of my control/ability to influence or correct.”
The murdered father had been engaged in a bruising custody fight with his ex-wife when he was gunned down in Jacksonville Beach.
Bridegan’s parents, Gaylord and JoAnne Bridegan, accused the Gardners of helping their daughter flee to Washington state after the murder to avoid scrutiny and denied them access to their grandchildren after her arrest.
Shanna Gardner, who has been in jail for more than a year, has denied any role in her ex-spouse’s death.
Shelli and Sterling Gardner co-founded Stampin’ Up!, a multimillion-dollar papercraft company and have financially supported their daughter for years.
Gaylord and JoAnne Bridegan sued for unsupervised visitation and argued that they should be appointed the twins’ guardians instead.
But on the eve of the custody trial in Benton County Superior Court, the parties hammered out a confidential agreement and issued a joint statement last week announcing the settlement.
The parties wrote “that a spirit of cooperation and collaboration” led to the resolution.
“For both sets of grandparents, the proceedings were never about ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ but about ensuring that the children’s well-being remains paramount,” the joint statement read. “Both parties are happy with what was settled on.”
The specifics of the accord weren’t released but the deal grants Gaylord and JoAnne Bridegan visitation, according to a source.
In Kirsten Bridegan’s Instagram post, she said she had nothing to do with the secret custody deal or the joint statement.
“I have no involvement or support for that,” she wrote of the agreement. “Let’s hope and pray justice is served in the criminal case since it definitely wasn’t served in this one,” she wrote.
Kirsten Bridegan has accused Shanna Gardner and her parents of barring the twins from having contact with her and their half-siblings, Bexley, 5, and London, 3.
“The kids are still forbidden from calling or FaceTiming with each other,” Kirsten Bridegan wrote in another post. “So no, I don’t think a ‘lot of good’ came from this. Barely any to be frank. And mostly not benefitting the children.”
Kirsten Bridegan also slammed the secrecy of the deal, which she said she wasn’t privy to because she’s not considered “immediate family. “
“My opinion – they want it private so the world cant see how they operate…Jared would have never agreed to sign something like this,” she wrote. “He went into debt fighting for his kids and would have done everything to at least allow basic communication between the siblings.”
Jared Bridegan had just dropped off the twins at his ex-wife’s Jacksonville Beach home when he was lured from his SUV by a tire placed in the middle of the road on Feb. 16, 2022.
The moment he stepped out of his car, he was shot dead in front of Bexley, then 2, who was strapped in her car seat.
Prosecutors allege that Shanna Gardner and her estranged husband, Mario Fernandez, paid triggerman Henry Tenon to gun down the father of four.
Gardner and Fernandez are awaiting trial on first-degree murder and other charges, and they face the death penalty if convicted. Tenon pleaded guilty and is cooperating.
“I will NEVER be ashamed for fighting for my husband –often times alone,” Kirsten Bridegan wrote. “Jared didn’t give up until his LAST BREATH. And his fights are my fights.”
