“Moms and Mysteries,” a true crime podcast that covered the murder of Florida Microsoft executive, Jared Bridegan, presented the “Bexley Box” at CrimeCon 2023 in Orlando.
Organized by Kristen Bridegan, “Bexley Box” was created following the death of Kristen’s husband, Bridegan Foundation board member Melissa Rice told CrimeOnline Sunday at CrimeCon 2023.
After witnessing her father’s murder, 2-year-old Bexley was taken to the Jacksonville police station and spent hours there without her family present. Despite the efforts of the police officers, she lacked access to basic necessities appropriate for a toddler, such as a sippy cup or properly fitting diapers.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 33-year-old Jared Bridegan was shot and killed on February 16, 2022, shortly after dropping his twin children off at his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez’s, Jacksonville Beach home.
Bexley was in the car with him at the time, strapped into her car seat for around three minutes while her father passed away.
Rice said each box contains essentials for young victims, including items such as toys, books, coloring supplies, diapers, baby wipes, snacks, blankets, and other essentials to help make police stations seem a little “less scary.”
“As a mother, you want to do everything you can for your child and while officers did the best they can, I had wished there was more,” Kristen Bridegan previously told First Coast News. “More snacks that she was familiar with, you know a sippy cup, so I decided we can make a difference and give Bexley and I an outlet for some of the grief that we are going through.”
The first Bexley Box was sent to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, and since then, donations have helped children nationwide, with the latest boxes being shipped to police departments in Texas and Kansas.
Without generous donors, however, the boxes would not be possible.
Rice told CrimeOnline that anyone interested in helping with donation should go to Bridegan Foundation donation site for additional information.
Meanwhile, Jared Bridegan’s former wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, has been arrested in connection with his murder, along with her current husband, Mario Fernandez, and their former maintenance worker, Henry Tenon.
Bridegan and Gardner-Fernandez reportedly had a bitter divorce and were disputing custody over the twins at the time of the slaying.
Prior to the divorce, Gardner-Fernandez allegedly was heard asking in a tattoo parlor if anyone could “shut him up” in reference to Bridegan, according to Fox News.
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[Feature Photo: Jared Bridegan, Kristin and their children/Facebook]
