A heartbroken Florida widow needs the public’s help after her husband, a Microsoft executive, was fatally shot in front of their 2-year-old daughter in an upscale suburb of North Florida.
“It was pure cowardice and evil,” said Kirsten Bridegan, 30, whose husband, Jared Bridegan, 33, was ambushed in his car Feb. 16, as their daughter, Bexley, watched from her car seat. “To have that done where he didn’t even have a chance to fight back, and it was done in front of his daughter. I would ask anyone who knows anything to come forward.”
Jared has 9-year-old twins from a prior relationship. The gruesome incident occurred minutes after he dropped off the twins at his ex-wife’s home in Jacksonville Beach around 7:30 a.m.
Jared and her daughter, Bexley, were returning home from his ex-wife’ place in the family’s vehicle when they encountered a tire in the middle of the road, according to Kirsten and cops.
Jared was gunned down as soon as he stepped out of his car to see what was going on. Sgt. Tonya told reporters that law enforcement officers are investigating whether the tire was placed in the middle of the road in order to lure Jared from his vehicle.
“Jacksonville Beach is a safe community and a murder of this nature is highly unusual,” Tator said of the neighborhood near the Atlantic Ocean and 15 minutes from the famed golf courses of TPC Sawgrass, which is home to the PGA Tour.
Kirsten said she was at home with their 7-month-old London and grew worried when her husband hadn’t returned.
“He wasn’t answering my texts or my calls,” she recalled. “I was thinking maybe he got in a car accident. I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right.”
Kirsten then hopped in a car with her mother and began searching for Jared. As they drove, Kirsten kept dialing her husband’s phone number — however, it wasn’t Jared who finally picked up.
“A police officer answered but wouldn’t tell me if he was okay,” she recalled, choking back tears. “He said, ‘Please come to the Jacksonville Police Department.’ I told my mom, ‘Jared is not OK.’ I just knew. My whole body, my spirit, I knew he wasn’t okay.”
Upon arriving at the police station, Kirsten hugged Bexley who was in shock after witnessing her father’s murder. Then a detective took Kirsten aside and told her Jared was dead, Fox News reported.
“I started crying, my hands were shaking — I looked for a trash can because I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept saying ‘This isn’t real, this can’t be real,” she said.
Kirsten refused to discuss Jared’s relationship with his ex-wife, investigators said. Though invited, Jared’s twins from his prior marriage did not attend their father’s funeral.
Sgt. Tator is begging anyone with information that could help them solve Jared’s murder to come forward. The Jacksonville Police Department previously released a photo of a black Ford F-150 as the vehicle of interest.
“Somebody out there knows what happened or knows somebody that was involved in this, and we’re asking them to do the right thing,” Tator said.
“We’re waiting on forensic evidence to come back and when we receive that information, we will go from there in our investigation.” Tator said. There is a $25,000 reward — authorities have offered $8,000 while private donors contributed an additional $17,000.
Anyone with information should contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 904-270-1661 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
Kirsten said the shocking murder has taken the greatest toll on Bexley.
“She talks about the sound a lot. She says, ‘I had to cover my ears,’” Kirsten said. “When she talks about what happened she calls it ‘The boom.’ She says, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom! Daddy on the ground.’”
Kirsten said that Bexley asks about her dad a lot but she also misses her older siblings who she has barely seen since the slaying. “I miss them too,” said Kirsten. “We didn’t just lose Jared, we lost our family structure.”
Kirsten said that Bexley asks about her dad a lot but she also misses her older siblings who she has barely seen since the slaying. “I miss them too,” said Kirsten. “We didn’t just lose Jared, we lost our family structure.”
