A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise money for members of a former Montauk family who were victims of a knife attack in Florida that police described as an attempted murder-suicide.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page that on Saturday at around 4:30 p.m., deputies responded to a call regarding a stabbing in Ponte Vedra, near Jacksonville. The sheriff’s office identified Spencer Ross Pearson, 18, as the suspect in “a targeted attack,” and said he was “known to the primary victim.”
That victim is Madison Schemitz, 17, who, according to the GoFundMe campaign, “was brutally attacked outside Mr. Chubby’s,” a restaurant, “with her mom, Jacki Roge.” Madison, one of six children, is a rising senior at Ponte Vedra High School. She “will have a long road to recovery as she is in critical condition” at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. The family, longtime Montauk residents, moved to Florida a few years ago.
The News4Jax website, citing the sheriff’s office, reported on Monday night that Ms. Roge and Madison were at the restaurant on Saturday, and when they noticed Mr. Pearson at a nearby table they tried to avoid him and leave. Mr. Pearson followed them to the parking lot, where he attacked Madison, stabbing her at least 15 times. When Ms. Roge intervened, she was stabbed in the leg, forehead, and hand.
News4Jax said that Mr. Pearson “had reportedly been harassing the 17-year-old victim for two months.” WESH, a television station, identified Mr. Pearson as Madison’s ex-boyfriend.
On Monday, Ms. Roge posted on the GoFundMe page that “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.”
News4Jax had previously reported that two men arriving at the restaurant heard screams and intervened. One of them “saw a man on top of a woman on the sidewalk ‘pounding down on her chest,’ and he couldn’t tell if the man had a knife or was just using his fist, but he took off running and knocked the man off the woman.” In separating Mr. Pearson from Madison, he was slashed on the hand by the attacker, who then stabbed himself several times in the throat.
“All parties involved were transported to local area hospitals with serious injuries sustained from sharp force trauma,” the sheriff’s office posted. “Should the suspect survive his self-inflicted injuries, he will be charged with multiple felony charges, including attempted murder.”
The GoFundMe page is at bit.ly/3WSDbQX. As of Tuesday evening, 914 donors had raised $94,570. Efforts to reach family members on Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful.
John Brady, a donor to the campaign, wrote on the page, “This family was a big part of my childhood growing up in Montauk and they are very special to my heart. Jacki, Madison & Chris [Schemitz, Madison’s father] . . . my prayers are with you and I can’t believe this. I will pray for your recovery, healing, and God willing, miracles, and ask anyone else to do the same.”
