John Jefferson
Background: Spencer Pearson at his sentencing (WTLV-WJXX/YouTube). Inset: Spencer Pearson with his mother (WTLV-WJXX/YouTube).
Sitting emotionless in a Florida courtroom with his parents watching, former high school football star Spencer Pearson was handed a life sentence on Friday for butchering his ex-girlfriend in 2023 — stabbing her more than a dozen times and leaving her paralyzed — before slicing his own throat.
“This court does not impose a sentence based on vengeance,” said St. Johns County Circuit Court Judge R. Lee Smith. “There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum sentence possible … and this court finds that this is one of them.”
Smith’s sentence was delivered in a packed St. Johns County courtroom after Pearson, 20, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury with a weapon in July.
Pearson’s ex-girlfriend, Madison Schemitz, 17, was left paralyzed and dependent on a cane to walk as a result of his brutal assault after suffering injuries to her spinal cord. A GoFundMe created for her last year described the teen as a “rising senior” at Ponte Verde High School and “star softball player.”
Her mother, Jacki Rogé, was also stabbed by Pearson, as was a bystander who intervened. Rogé reportedly filed a criminal complaint against him for stalking and harassment less than one week before the near-fatal onslaught. Pearson had also tried taking his own life “only weeks earlier,” per Smith, but was stopped by Schemitz.
“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 judge said. “The same person who had tried to save his life, he violently and viciously attacked.”
Pearson’s age, mental health and lack of criminal history were all cited by his defense team as reasons for Smith to go below the minimum sentence for his crimes, according to local NBC and ABC affiliates WTLV and WJXX, aka First Coast News, but the judge ultimately refused.
“I have considered the mitigating circumstances that have been well presented by the defense in this case,” Smith said. “This court has carefully thought and weighed and considered your client’s age, his lack of any prior criminal history, the fact that he was suffering from, clearly, a depressive state of mind when this happened at his age…but the crime that was committed, the impact that this crime has had…it just far outweighs any of the mitigation that the court has considered.”
While reading his decision out loud, Pearson’s parents could be heard gasping and sobbing from the courtroom gallery, with his father shouting “Oh, God!” repeatedly. Pearson, who did not appear to cry, was allowed to hug and say goodbye to them.
“You are sentenced to serve the remainder of your life in prison,” Smith told Pearson, who stared straight ahead with a cold and expressionless look on his face as his parents broke down behind him.
The former high school football star bore a large scar on his neck from his alleged suicide attempt after the June 2023 attack. Schemitz spoke at the sentencing, saying: “I’ve thought about this day, this moment, this statement for the last 538 days. … living in true torment.”
According to Pearson’s arrest warrant, Schemitz and her mother met up with some friends at Mr. Chubby’s Wings in Ponte Vedra Beach on June 3, 2023. Once seated, they noticed Pearson — who was allegedly stalking and harassing Schemitz after a break-up — sitting at a nearby table. The mother and daughter chose to leave the restaurant, but Pearson followed them out to the parking lot and then “charged” at Schemitz, per police.
“The defendant held the juvenile victim with one arm and stabbed her approximately fifteen times,” a witness told investigators.
Cops said Rogé tried pulling Pearson off of her daughter and in the process got stabbed in the forehead and leg. A random stranger in the parking lot who stepped in and was able to pull Pearson away from the pair was stabbed, too.
“After being dislodged, the defendant sliced his own throat several times telling witnesses he was attempting to kill himself,” according to the arrest warrant.
Pearson’s family and lawyers later cited mental health problems for causing the near-fatal attack, pointing to head trauma he sustained while playing football, which they claimed led to CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Pearson’s legal team referred to him as a star athlete who got hit “roughly 10,000” times during his playing days. His parents offered up apologies at his sentencing to Schemitz and her mother.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” his father said. “I know you’ve 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, and I just can’t say I’m sorry enough. Y’all don’t deserve this.”
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