Holly MatkinPonte Vedra Beach, FL – A Florida man stabbed his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend 15 times before slicing his own throat during a horrific attack outside a busy restaurant last weekend.
According to an arrest warrant, Ponte Vedra High School football star Spencer Ross Pearson, 18, had been harassing and stalking 17-year-old Madison Schemitz since she ended their relationship back in April, FOX News reported.
Schemitz was out at Mr. Chubby’s Wings with her mother, Jackie Roge, and several friends on June 3 when she noticed Pearson sitting at a table nearby, according to investigators.
That’s when the teen and her mom told the rest of the group it was time to head out, WTLV reported.
“They were like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to go,’” recalled Casey Estep, who was with them at the time.
Estep said they were trying to pay their bill when Pearson suddenly ran up to Schemitz and Roge, WTLV reported.
According to the arrest warrant, Pearson chased them outside, then grabbed his ex-girlfriend “by one arm and stabbed her approximately 15 times” out in front of the restaurant, FOX News reported.
When Roge tried to stop Pearson, he allegedly slashed her leg and forehead with the knife, according to police.
The vicious attack occurred in broad daylight in front of a multitude of witnesses.
Among them was Kennedy Armstrong, who said he was out in the parking lot when he suddenly heard people yelling, WTLV reported.
Armstrong then realized a man was stabbing two women and ran over to intervene.
He was also slashed during the ensuing brawl.
Armstrong suffered severe injuries to his right hand, including ligament and arterial damage, and was expected to need further surgery, WTLV reported.
“You see two girls in trouble getting attacked by a guy, I would hope most people would do the same,” Armstrong said of his willingness to intervene. “Kudos to the mom. I think she’s the real reason that girl is still alive.”
According to police, after stabbing Schemitz and slicing Roge and Armstrong, Pearson proceeded to slash his own throat multiple times while telling witnesses “he was attempting to kill himself,” FOX News reported.
“You can see his vocal cords,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher, according to WTLV.
Pearson and the three victims were all rushed to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries.
Roge underwent surgery for a ruptured artery in her hand, FOX News reported.
She was back in surgery on Monday to repair the muscles that were severed from the bone in her hand during the attack, according to a fundraising page established to help the victims during their recoveries.
Schemitz, a rising high school senior and star softball player, was listed in critical condition at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville.
The attack left her with paralysis that is hopefully only temporary, WTLV reported.
“She had some spinal fluid leaking from her spinal cord, so currently she is not able to move or feel her legs,” Schemitz’s older sister, Tatiana Cruceta, told the news outlet. “But we’re hoping for a very speedy recovery.”
The teen has already undergone multiple surgeries.
“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,” Roge told The Florida Times-Union. “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.”
Pearson remains hospitalized in critical condition, FOX News reported.
He has been charged with one count of aggravated battery and two counts of first-degree attempted premeditated murder.
