PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 17 times outside of a Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant in June 2023 will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Spencer Pearson was sentenced Friday night after a long day in court.
Before the judge handed down the sentence, he 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 had her walking across the stage at her graduation just under a year later.
“The events that unfolded on that afternoon were horrific,” the judge said. “The defendant launched a vicious attack on a 17-year-old girl who had done nothing but showed 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 was ahead for his future.
The defense was looking for a “downward departure,” asking for a lesser sentence due to Spencer’s mental capacity, his age and other factors even focusing on head injuries sustained in football and possible CTE.
While the judge said all those elements were considered in this decision, he was still unconvinced that Pearson deserved a decreased sentencing.
“The impact that this crime has had on Madison, Jaclyn, and Kennedy, it far outweighs any of the mitigation that this court has considered,” the judge said. “There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum possible sentence and this court finds that this is one of them.”
Pearson was sentenced to life in prison including an additional 30 years in prison to serve concurrently.
An outburst of tears filled the courtroom, but Pearson remained with no emotion. His mother and father wrapped him in hugs filled with outcries before he was taken back to jail.
Disclaimer: Some may find the details inside this article unsettling. Reader discretion advised.
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 attempted to slash his own throat in the domestic violence attack.
“I need serious help and I have for a long time, and I am so sorry for what this has come to, I am so sorry for my actions,” Pearson said as he addressed the courtroom during his sentencing hearing.
Watch Pearson’s full statement in the video below
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At Pearson’s sentencing hearing Friday, a St. Johns County detective walked the court through the sequence of events leading up 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 the Mr. Chubbys Wings in Ponte Vedra as Madison, her mom and friends sat across the room.
That video also showed the girls walking out and to the car after seeing Spencer in the restaurant. He eventually got up from his seat, walked out of the restaurant and attacked Madison and her mother before bystanders stepped in.
A picture of the knife detectives found at the scene was also shown in the courtroom.
The detective described the scene as messy— showing pictures of blood all over the sidewalk. She added that they found a sharpening block in Pearson’s pocket at the hospital.
Schemitz also took the stand. She read a statement to the courtroom during the sentencing hearing, in which she talked about the trauma of not only the attack but her previous relationship with Pearson.
“I’ve thought about this day, this moment, this statement, every single day for the last 538 days. Five hundred and thirty-eight days of living in true torment, 538 days that regardless of the circumstances, always have the same dark cloud looming over. Five hundred and thirty-eight days of constantly reliving the trauma the defendant put me through. Your Honor, I say 538 because that is how many days it has been since June 3, 2023,” Schemitz said.
Schemitz also talked 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 myself fearing the worst possibilities in every situation,” she said. “I’ve lost all trust in the world, and finding that trust in people again is far and few between. I’ve lost any child-like innocence.”
Pearson’s father, Dan Pearson, addressed the victims. He was one of the first people to take the stand Friday.
“Madison, Jaclyn, Kennedy, I am so sorry, I am sorry this happened to you. 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 am sorry this happened to you. I think about you every day, I pray for you every day,” Dan Pearson said.
Jaclyn Rogé, Madison’s mother, was cut on the forehead, hand and thigh as she tried to intervene in the attack on her daughter. She read a statement at the sentencing hearing.
“You handed Madison a life sentence and you only get the same. Have 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 initially scheduled to be sentenced about a month ago, but his attorneys got the hearing pushed back so he could be tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE.
In court filings, Pearson’s attorneys said they had recently learned that new science shows signs of CTE can be detected in brain scans for living subjects, including in young athletes.
On Oct. 18, a week before Pearson was set to be sentenced, his attorneys asked the court to push it back, writing, “An underlying issue in the case is whether Defendant’s suffering repetitive head impacts (RHI) over the course of him playing tackle football from the ages of 6 through 18 causes him to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).”
Forensic psychologist Dr. Justin D’Arienzo explained how CTE works.
“It is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder due to repeated injuries to the brain, and it can happen in sports and the military,” he said. “Usually, we’re talking about repeated head injuries, and as a result, there are behavioral and cognitive changes that occur.”
Changes can include increased aggression, impulsivity, and as the disease progresses, more cognitive difficulties.
D’Arienzo said CTE can contribute to criminality.
Pearson’s attorneys cited a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology in 2023 examining the donated brains of 152 deceased contact sport athletes under the age of 30. The study found 41% of them had CTE, and most of them played at the high school and college levels. Their sports included football, ice hockey, rugby, soccer, 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 waiting on 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 the CTE that then led to him being impulsive and irrational and having this very aggressive outburst and that and that, if he never would have had that CTE, he never would have acted in this manner,” D’Arienzo said.
Dan Pearson also detailed his son’s time in football as a defensive end with multiple concussions and thousands of hits, saying he saw his son change over time.
“At they started into the relationship, he frankly wasn’t just handling it well. I think he was, just couldn’t enjoy it. He was always just stressed out. He seemed to be too wrapped up in a lot of stuff. Drove him to a bad place. Very insecure,” Dan Pearson said.
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 Pearson’s brain scans showed signs of trauma from years of playing football that resulted in diminished impulse control, acting without regard to consequences, and being easily agitated.
The defense noted Pearson was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and major depression with psychotic features, due to reports of hearing voices at times.
“Spencer deserves a chance to have a life. Spencer needs help, I know that without a doubt. He’s got a lot of issues a lot of mental problems, I am worried about his head injuries,” Dan Pearson said.
A psychologist called by the state testified his analysis of Pearson suggests he was fabricating auditory hallucinations.
Resources
If you or someone you know is or has been a victim of domestic violence or abuse, here’s a list of other resources available:
- 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 Micah’s Place (Nassau County) Domestic Violence Help Hotline is 904-225-9979.
- The Quigley House (Clay County) hotline is 904-284-0061.
- The Betty Griffin Center (St. Johns County) can be reached at 904-824-1555.