Spencer Pearson Sentenced to Life for Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend Madison Schemitz 15 Times

A 20-year-old who stabbed his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend 15 times in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Spencer Pearson, 20, a former high school star football player, and Madison Schemitz, 17, an aspiring softball player, were in a relationship.

After their breakup, Spencer threatened Madison with violence to the point where Madison’s mother was in the process of obtaining a restraining order against him. Spencer was often stalking Madison.

On June 3, 2023, Madison Schemitz was eating lunch with her mother, Jaclyn “Jacki” Roge, and a friend when they spotted Spencer standing nearby.

They asked and paid for the bill and began walking out towards the parking lot towards their car. Before they could get into the car, Spencer attacked Madison with a knife and stabbed her 15 times. When her mother tried to intervene, she was stabbed too.

A person standing nearby, Kennedy Armstrong, 23, heard screaming and got involved. Spencer stopped the attack on Madison and Jacki and stabbed Kennedy in his arms, severing multiple tendons.

CCTV footage of the restaurant and attack:

After the attack, Spencer stabbed himself in the neck in an attempt to kill himself.

Both Spencer and Madison were hospitalized in critical condition. Due to the stabbing, Madison suffered major spinal cord injuries, which left her partly paralyzed and reliant on a cane to walk as a result of the attack.

Pearson was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury, to which he pleaded guilty in July 2024.

Prior to the sentencing, the court was informed of Pearson’s mental health problems after he and Schemitz had separated, including an incident when he attempted to take his own life.

His father said he wanted to address the victims.

“Madison, Jacki, Kennedy, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry this happened to you,” Daniel Pearson said. “Madison, you were always so sweet, coming over you were such a beautiful person to be around. You were so good to our family. I’m sorry this happened to you. I think about you every day, I pray for you every day. You’re a sweet soul, you’re a beautiful person, I know that. I’m sorry.

“Jacki, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he continued. “I know you had to go through a world of hurt and just dealing with all of this. I’m sorry. I pray for you to have peace and forgiveness. I can’t say I’m sorry enough, you all don’t deserve this.

“Kennedy, thank you, thank you for saving multiple lives,” he said to him. “You are a hero. And I believe you also saved my son, I know you didn’t intend to but I thank you for that. I know this apology might do little, or might not comfort you at all, but I just wanted you to know from me and my family that we are so sorry that our son did this to you.”

For his son’s punishment, he didn’t specify a sentence but hoped for an opportunity to make amends.

“Spencer deserves a chance to have a life,” his father said. “Spencer needs help, I know that without a doubt. He’s got a lot of issues, a lot of mental problems, I’m worried about his head injuries. Spencer was never violent, he was a good kid. I don’t know what happened. I believe Spencer can be rehabilitated, and I believe he needs that chance.”

Tonya Pearson, spencer mom said for so long she’s wanted to address the victims about what her son did.

“Kennedy, thank you. You not only saved Madison’s life, her momma, also my son. Thank you,” his mother said, sobbing. “Madison, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. And I pray you are healed in every single way that you need healing and you recover 100%. Finally, Jacki, my momma’s heart to you. I thought of you, how you tried to save her, you’re a good mom. None of you deserved this. I pray God he give you each complete healing. And we’re sorry.”

At the end of March she said her and her husband could see their son’s relationship with Schemitz was going downhill. He was very withdrawn and not eating. When the breakup happened, she said they thought like most parents, “You’ve got a broken heart, you’ll get through this.”

Pearson’s family and legal team also told the court that he had sustained CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) as a result of playing football. CTE is a degenerative disease that typically stems from repeated blows to the head and can lead to behavioral and mental health problems. It can only be diagnosed posthumously, as it requires the brain to be cut open.

Pearson was a defensive end, and his father told the court that his son had suffered “roughly” 10,000 blows to the head from a decade of playing football. Although Judge R. Lee Smith recognized the mitigating factors in the case, he determined that life imprisonment was the only fitting punishment for Pearson’s crimes.

The judge said: “This 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. The same person who had tried to save his life, he violently and viciously attacked.

“This court does not impose a sentence based on vengeance. There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum sentence possible, and this court finds that this is one of them.”

Schemitz took to the stand during the sentencing, telling the court: “I’ve thought about this day, this moment, this statement for the last 538 days, living in true torment.”