A Florida high school softball star and her mother were brutally stabbed by the teenager’s ex-boyfriend as they were leaving a restaurant to avoid him, authorities said.
The stabbing, described by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office as a “targeted attack,” occurred Saturday afternoon in the the parking lot of a Mr. Chubby’s Wings restaurant in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The teenager, identified by the family as Madison Schemitz, was eating at the restaurant with her mother, Jacki Roge, and friends when they saw the ex-boyfriend seated nearby, according to an arrest affidavit.
Roge was in the process of obtaining a restraining order against her daughter’s ex, Spencer Ross Pearson, according to NBC affiliate WLTV of Jacksonville, quoting a relative. In April, he began to “follow and harass” the girl, the affidavit said.
Schemitz, 17, and her mother left the restaurant to avoid contact with Pearson, 18, according to deputies. Seconds later, he was seen “charging towards the juvenile victim and her mother as they walked toward their vehicle,” the affidavit said.
Pearson held Schemitz with one arm and “stabbed her approximately 15 times,” one of the victims told investigators, according to the document.
Her mother tried to intervene and was stabbed by Pearson in the forehead and leg, the affidavit said. He also stabbed a bystander who ran to help Schemitz and her mother, according to the document.
The bystander was able to “dislodge” Pearson, who began “cutting his own throat” and told witnesses he was trying to kill himself, the affidavit said.
The victims and the suspect were hospitalized following the incident, which left Schemitz with “life-threatening injuries,” according to the document.
A page created to raise money for the family’s medical bills described Schemitz as a rising senior at Ponte Vedra High School, a star athlete and a sister to five siblings.
She has a “long road to recovery” and was described as in critical condition at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, according to the fundraiser.
“Madison has 2 chest tubes and a spinal cord injury but she’s a fighter, just please continue praying for her,” Roge shared in an update.
“I am about to go into surgery, my muscles were severed from the bone on my hand,” she added.
The status of the bystander was unknown Tuesday.
Pearson was charged with two counts of attempted premeditated murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
He was served an arrest warrant in the hospital, where he remains as of Tuesday. Pearson was ordered to not have contact with the victims or to hold any firearms, the warrant said, which noted he must wear a GPS monitor.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
