Warrant: Girl stabbed 15 times in Ponte Vedra restaurant before suspect sliced his throat

In front of a late Saturday afternoon crowd at a Ponte Vedra Beach sports bar and restaurant, witnesses said a 17-year-old girl was stabbed more than a dozen times along with her mother and another patron before the suspect began "steadily" cutting his own throat, according to the newly released arrest warrant by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said the warrant for two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and one for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon was served to the hospitalized suspect, 18-year-old Spencer Ross Pearson.

The family identified the daughter and mother as Madison Schemitz and Jaclyn "Jacki" Roge, 43, of Ponte Vedra Beach. Schemitz had broken up with Pearson a couple of months ago.

The warrant states Pearson in April began to follow and harass her. On Saturday she and her mother met some friends at Mr. Chubby's Wings at 150 Valley Circle and saw Pearson seated at another table.

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So they started to leave to avoid him. Within 20 seconds Pearson was seen charging toward them as they walked toward their vehicle, according to the arrest document. One of the victims told investigators the attacker held the girl with one arm and stabbed her about 15 times. Her mother attempted to stop him and was stabbed in the forearm and leg.

That’s when the bystander jumped in to get him off the girl. The bystander also endured stab wounds. “After being dislodged, the defendant sliced his own throat several times telling witnesses he was attempting to kill himself,” the warrant states. All four were hospitalized.

Who are Madison Schemitz, Jacki Roge and Spencer Pearson?

Times-Union archives include a photo of Pearson playing defensive end for the Ponte Vedra High School football team, which his Facebook also shows for some of his games. His last activity was updating his profile photo on Dec. 24 with a picture of him and Schemitz. His father has several happy photos of the family of six posted on his social media.

A GoFundMe for Roge and her family says Schemitz is a rising senior at Ponte Vedra High and a softball player, which her Facebook photo also shows. Both of their Facebooks show the two of them together as a couple as late as Christmas Eve 2022.

Tatiana Cruceta, Schemitz's oldest sister who lives in New York, told First Coast News that although she couldn't feel her legs due to spinal wounds, the family is confident she will recover.

“Madison’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, she’s always smiling, always," Cruceta said. "So as soon as I answered the phone — we all call her ‘Sass,’ that’s her nickname — so I said ‘How you doing, Sass, how you feeling?’ And she goes ‘Oh just dandy.’ So she was cracking jokes and trying to be strong.”

She said she doesn't know the details but was aware of some issues between her sister and Pearson after ending their relationship.

“He was threatening her safety," Cruceta said. "My mother was looking to get a restraining order against him so this was definitely premeditated. This was definitely something that he had planned.”

First Coast News reported that Roge did file a complaint against Pearson a week prior and told detectives he had been struggling with his mental health and making suicidal statements. She said she informed his mother who advised she would handle it.

Cruceta said her mother also suffered some cuts to the face and thigh but is recovering. A GoFundMe update states, "I am about to go into surgery, my muscles were severed from the bone on my hand. Madison has two chest tubes and a spinal cord injury but she's a fighter, just please continue praying for her.” 

Who were the good Samaritans?

Kennedy Armstrong told Times-Union news partner First Coast News he had arrived at Mr. Chubby's Wings and heard people yelling in the parking lot. He saw a man stabbing two women so went into action. He said it was all a blur, but he just wanted to get the man off of them.

He didn't know until after it was all broken up that he'd been hurt when he saw his pants covered in blood. His right hand was cut severely, damaging an artery and several ligaments.

Jimmy Stepp told WJXT TV-4 he had joined Armstrong at the restaurant to grab a bite to eat after work when it happened in the parking lot. He said his friend "is the hero in this whole thing. He tackled the gentleman off and caught a slash on his hand.”

But Armstrong credited Stepp with assisting him in stopping the onslaught.

“Shout out to him big-time,” Armstrong said WJXT and also told First Coast News, "You see two girls in trouble getting attacked by a guy, I would hope most people would do the same. Kudos to the mom, I think she's the real reason that girl is still alive."

Roge released the following statement, according to WJXT:

“I would please ask for privacy at this time but ask everyone to pray for my daughter. She is the strongest, most amazing person I know. We owe huge gratitude to that young man Kennedy for saving Madison’s life and to the incredible trauma team, neurosurgeons and hospital staff at Memorial Hospital.”