Spencer Pearson was hit with life in prison Friday evening for the frenzied stabbing of his ex-girlfriend Madison Schemitz outside a Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant last year.
Judge R. Lee Smith declined to show Pearson any leniency in meting out the maximum term available to him.
“The crime that was committed, the impact that this crime has had on Madison, Jacki, and Kennedy just far outweighs any of the mitigations that this court has considered,” he said.
Pearson remained stoic after Smith rendered his fate, but continued to shiver lightly as he had done for the better part of a proceeding that lasted for more than 10 hours.
Schemitz smiled and hugged her mother, Jacki Roge, after Smith’s decision.
Pearson’s mother, Tonya Pearson, began to weep loudly, and his father, Daniel Pearson, buried his head in his hands.
Court personnel allowed Pearson to hug his parents after much of the gallery had cleared out, and they shared an extended group embrace.
Schemitz brought much of the gallery to tears during a victim impact statement before Smith’s decision, with many rising to their feet and clapping in a rare courtroom display that drew an admonition from the bench.
After recounting the horrors of Pearson’s June 3, 2023 assault that left her partially paralyzed and now dependent on a cane, Schemitz urged the judge to banish her assailant to prison for good.
“On June 3, 2023 I was given my own life sentence by the defendant,” she said “And I plead with you that the defendant receive the same justified sentence and deserved punishment.”
Before she spoke, prosecutors played a video montage of Schemitz’s grueling recovery process, showing her barely able to stand up in the early stages of her rehabilitation.
The presentation ended with her slowly but resolutely making her way across the stage at her Ponte Vedra High School graduation, a triumph that drew thunderous applause.
But Schemitz reminded the gallery that for all of her progress and upbeat Instagram posts, she remains psychologically and physically disfigured by the 17 knife strikes Pearson delivered that day.
“i often laugh and smile to not let those around me realize that I am suffering,” she said. “So that they don’t have to be sad as well.”
Schemitz exhibited that trait earlier in the day as graphic photos of her injuries were flashed on a courtroom screen. While some looked away or winced, Schemitz looked at the images without a flinch.
She acknowledged worrying about her future, and if she’ll be able to pursue the life that once seemed assured to her as a then vibrant 17-year-old girl.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Lt. George Harrigan, who has helped shepherd the family through myriad challenges in the wake of the attack, told the court of his admiration for Schemitz’s unyielding determination.
“Her grit, strength, resilience and incredible spirit has gripped this community and now the nation,” he said. “On behalf of the more than 100 members of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, we are and always will be Madison Strong.”
Kennedy Armstrong, the fearless bystander who knocked Pearson off of Schemitz and likely saved her life, also took the stand, telling the court in troubled tones of his own struggle to recover from that day.
No longer able to apply his trade as a carpenter, Armstrong said his life has been permanently altered.
“You planned this,” he told Pearson. “You knew what you were doing. And thanks to God you failed. You will remain a failure until you see God and he sends you to the devil.”
Schemitz’s mother, Jacki Roge, called Pearson “evil” in a scathing statement to the court that also trained its sights on his parents.
“You’re a monster,” she said. “I pray for my family’s peace, and I pray for your family to have the lives you deserve.”
Pearson stood to address the court, apologizing to his victims and defending his parents’ innocence in the matter.
“I am so sorry for my actions,” he said. “I ask for forgiveness, and I ask for mercy.”
In attempting to pry that mercy from the judge, Pearson’s lawyer, Matthew Kachergus, argued that he suffered from varied mental illnesses and had no prior violent history.
He read statements from supporters who recalled Pearson as a once gentle soul who never exhibited aggression before last year’s carnage.
Leaving no exculpatory stone unturned, Kachergus suggested that head trauma from Pearson’s football career played a role.
But in the end, Judge Smith said that the sprawling damage his client had wrought was all but beyond calculation.
“There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum possible sentence,” he said.
