At St. Johns County courtroom, a young Ponte Vedra man was sentenced to life for stabbing his ex-girlfriend, her mom, and a good Samaritan.
His ex-girlfriend was Madison Schemitz, who was in high school at the time and he stabbed her in an incident outside of a Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant in 2023.
The 20-year-old Spencer Pearson was sentenced on charges of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon (two counts) and aggravated battery causing serious injury. This sentence came after he changed his plea from guilty to not guilty.
Pearson’s attorney had tried to use mental health disorder to get the Judge to go below the minimum sentence, but Judge R. Lee Smith did not find their argument sufficient for a sentence below the minimum.
In denying this motion, Smith made it clear that Pearson’s ex-girlfriend Schemitz had helped him when he wanted to commit suicide. So, why would he violently attack the only person that tried to help him?
He said that without the intervention of Kennedy Armstrong, the good Samaritan who helped stop the attack, and Schemitz’s mother, Pearson would have killed her.
Considering Pearson’s attorneys’ motion, Judge Smith concluded that his intention to kill far outweighs their pleas. “There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum sentence. And this court finds that this is one of them.”
After the sentence was read, Pearson’s mother could be heard crying and saying, “I love you, Spencer.”
On June 3, 2023, Madison and her mother could not have imagined what was quickly coming when attempted to leave Mr. Chubby’s Wings in Ponte Vedra Beach. They had just come out when they saw Pearson.
According to police records, Pearson charged at them and stabbed Schemitz, as Rogé was stabbed in the forehead and leg trying to protect her daughter.
Before then, authorities also had reports signifying he was stalking Maddy for a while.
