Spencer Pearson’s attorneys plan to appeal his life sentence for stabbing his ex-girlfriend Madison Schemitz and two others outside a restaurant last year.
The Ponte Vedra Beach High School graduate’s primary attorney, Matthew Kachergus, filed a notice with Florida’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 20.
Judge R. Lee Smith sentenced Pearson to life on Nov. 22 after a lengthy hearing, arguing that his crime was severe enough to qualify for the harshest penalty available to the court.
“There are just certain crimes that are committed that merit the maximum possible sentence,” he said.
Pearson, who dated Schemitz while both attended Ponte Vedra High School, grew increasingly enraged and unhinged after their breakup.
He chased Schemitz down as she, her mother and a friend hurriedly fled Mr. Chubby’s Wings after spotting Pearson in the eatery.
Pearson stabbed Schemitz at least 17 times, leaving her with permanent spinal injuries.
He also inflicted serious stab wounds on her mother, Jaclyn Roge, and Good Samaritan Kennedy Armstrong, who pulled Pearson off of Schemitz.
In lobbying for leniency, Kachergus said Pearson suffered from several mental illnesses — including football induced brain trauma.
But Schemitz pushed the court to hold Pearson fully accountable for his actions that day, telling a rapt courtroom of her grueling rehabilitation and indelible psychological scars.
Smith sided with Schemitz and St. Johns County prosecutors, telling the gallery that Pearson’s crime wreaked lasting damage across a wide range of victims.
Schemitz and her mother are suing Pearson, his parents and the restaurant near the stabbing for negligence.
