Man who stabbed ex-girlfriend, her mother in Ponte Vedra Beach to spend life in prison

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 17 times outside a Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant in June 2023 will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Spencer Pearson was sentenced on Friday evening after a long day in court.

Before handing down the sentence, the judge made a point about how long it took to conclude a case he described as “difficult”.

The attack left then-17-year-old Madison Schemitz partially paralyzed, but her remarkable recovery saw her walk across the stage at her graduation barely a year later.

“The events that unfolded that afternoon were horrific,” the judge said. “The defendant launched a vicious attack on a 17-year-old girl who had done nothing but show him love and only weeks earlier had done her part to try to save his life when he attempted suicide.”

Pearson stood still with no visible emotion as he awaited what lay ahead for his future.

The defense sought a “downward departure” and asked for a lesser sentence because of Spencer’s mental capacity, his age and other factors, even focusing on head injuries in football and possible CTE.

While the judge said all of these elements were considered in this decision, he was still not convinced that Pearson deserved a reduced sentence.

“The impact that this crime has had on Madison, Jaclyn and Kennedy, it far outweighs any remedy that this court has considered,” the judge said. “There are just certain crimes that are committed that deserve the maximum possible punishment, and this court finds that this is one of them.”

Pearson was sentenced to life in prison with an additional 30 years to be served concurrently.

An outburst of tears filled the courtroom, but Pearson remained emotionless. His mother and father wrapped him in shout-filled hugs before he was taken back to prison.

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Schemitz’s mother and a bystander who tried to help them were also injured in the assault, and Pearson was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated battery causing serious injury with a weapon.

Pearson tried to cut his own throat in the domestic violence attack.

“I need serious help and I have for a long time and I’m so sorry this has come to this, I’m so sorry for my actions,” Pearson said as he addressed the courtroom during his sentencing.

Watch Pearson’s full statement in the video below

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At Pearson’s sentencing Friday, a corrections officer from St. Johns County court through the sequence of events that led to the attack.

She started by sharing with the court that Pearson had begun stalking Madison — leaving her messages on her car and creating fake social media accounts.

The detective then walked people through the surveillance footage from the day of the attack.

It showed Spencer walking into Mr. Chubby’s Wings in Ponte Vedra, while Madison, her mom and friends sat across the room.

That video also showed the girls walking out to the car after seeing Spencer at the restaurant. He eventually got up from his seat, walked out of the restaurant and attacked Madison and her mother before bystanders entered.

A photo of the knife detectives found at the scene was also shown in court.

The detective described the scene as messy – and showed images of blood all over the pavement. She added that they found a sanding block in Pearson’s pocket at the hospital.

Schemitz also took the stand. She read a statement to the courtroom during the sentencing in which she spoke of the trauma of not only the attack, but of her past relationship with Pearson.

“I have thought about this day, this moment, this statement, every single day for the past 538 days. Five hundred and thirty-eight days of living in true agony, 538 days that, regardless of the circumstances, always have the same dark cloud hanging over them. Five one hundred and thirty-eight days of constantly reliving the trauma that the defendant put me through.Your Honor, I say 538 because that’s how many days have passed since then June 3, 2023,” Schemitz said.

Schemitz also spoke about her recovery journey and her physical and mental struggles.

“I suffer from PTSD and anxiety daily, I still deal with the sleepless nights and constant nightmares. I refuse to go outside alone at night, in the dark, I feel like I fear the worst in any situation,” she said. “I have lost all trust in the world, and it is a long way from finding trust in people again. I have lost all childlike innocence.”

Pearson’s father, Dan Pearson, spoke to the victims. He was one of the first to take the stand on Friday.

“Madison, Jaclyn, Kennedy, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry this happened to you. Madison, you were always so sweet when you came by, you were such a beautiful person to be with, you was so good to our family I’m sorry this happened to you I think about you every day I pray for you every day,” said Dan Pearson.

Jaclyn Rogé, Madison’s mother, was cut on the forehead, hand and thigh when she tried to intervene in the attack on her daughter. She read a statement during the sentencing.

“You gave Madison a life sentence and you only get the same. Having to watch her struggle to breathe because of you. Then to struggle to gain mobility because of paralysis, because of you,” Rogé said.

Pearson, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was originally scheduled to be sentenced about a month ago, but his lawyers had the hearing pushed back so he could be tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathyalso known as CTE.

In the lawsuits, Pearson’s lawyers said they had recently learned that new science shows signs of CTE can be detected in brain scans of living subjects, including young athletes.

On October 18, a week before Pearson was due to be sentenced, his lawyers asked the court to push it back, writing: “An underlying issue in the case is whether the defendant suffers repetitive head injury (RHI) during the course of his game. tackle football from Age 6 to 18 causes him to suffer from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Forensic psychologist Dr. Justin D’Arienzo explained how CTE works.

“It’s a progressive neurodegenerative brain disease due to repeated injuries to the brain, and it can happen in sports and the military,” he said. “Usually we’re talking about repetitive head injuries, and as a result there are behavioral and cognitive changes that occur.”

Changes may include increased aggression, impulsivity, and as the disease progresses, more cognitive difficulties.

D’Arienzo said CTE can contribute to crime.

Pearson’s lawyers cited a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology in 2023 that examined the donated brains of 152 deceased contact sports athletes under the age of 30. The study found that 41% of them had CTE, and most of them played at the middle school and high school level. Their sports included football, ice hockey, rugby, football and wrestling. The most common cause of their death was suicide, the study said.

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“I believe in this case, because we’re awaiting sentencing, they’re going to use this to mitigate, to reduce the sentence, to show that this gentleman may have had a series of head injuries that led to CTE, that then led to , that he was impulsive and irrational and had these very aggressive outbursts and that, and that if he would never have had that CTE, he would never have acted this way,” D’Arienzo said.

Dan Pearson also described his son’s time in football as a defensive end with multiple concussions and thousands of hits and said he saw his son change over time.

“When they started into the relationship, he honestly just didn’t handle it well. I think he was, just couldn’t enjoy it. He was always just stressed. He seemed too wrapped up in a lot of things . Drove him to a bad place. Very unsafe,” said Dan Pearson.

In court records, Pearson’s attorney described him as an anxious loner who spiraled into depression after Schemitz broke up with him a few months before the attack — and even attempted suicide.

They also noted that Pearson’s brain scans showed evidence of trauma from years of playing football, which resulted in impaired impulse control, acting without regard for consequences and being easily agitated.

The defense noted that Pearson was diagnosed with social anxiety and major depression with psychotic features, due to reports of hearing voices at times.

“Spencer deserves a chance at a life. Spencer needs help, I know that without a doubt. He has a lot of issues, a lot of mental issues, I’m worried about his head injuries,” Dan Pearson said.

A psychologist subpoenaed by the state testified that his analysis of Pearson suggests he was producing auditory hallucinations.

Resources

If you or someone you know is or has been a victim of domestic violence or abuse, here is a list of other available resources:

• The Florida Domestic Violence Hotline, which will direct you to the nearest shelter, is 1-800-500-1119.

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline is open 24 hours a day. The number is 1-800-799-SAFE.

• Hubbard House (Duval, Baker counties): 24/7 hotline is 904-354-3114 and text line at 904-210-3698.
• The Mica’s place (Nassau County) Domestic Violence Helpline is 904-225-9979.