She Was Attacked by Her Ex and Survived: The Inspiring Story of Madison Schemitz

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Ray and if you're new to the show then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. Today you guys I'm really excited for this episode because I'm going to be telling you the story of an amazing young survivor and I don't know about you guys but I love stories of survival and people who have been through Helen back truly and that's something that Madison Schemitz who we're going to be talking about today has kind of leaned on that idea I'll get to that later on but she is just such an inspirational young woman and I feel inspired and invigorated after learning about her story and I think you will too. I think it's so important that if you consume True Crime you know as much as I do and probably a lot of you do that we also make sure to bring in some stories of people who have been through these things have survived them and then have gone on to do amazing things for others. I just think kind of getting that balance in life is really important. I think you guys will truly be in awe the way that I have been when you hear what Madison actually went through what she overcame and yeah what she's doing as a result of what happened this episode is also really special because I finally get to tell you about a very exciting project that I have been working on with my foundation higher hope and also in collaboration with the Gabby Petito Foundation and the Petito family who are amazing people yesterday for me by the time you guys see it'll be about a week and a half ago ish I got to go to Laramie Wyoming for the day and meet up with Joe Petito who is such an amazing person who's so funny fun to be around and just so passionate about what they're doing at the Gabby Petito Foundation but anyway our team and Joe got the pleasure of spending the day with a safe project up at their safe house in Laramie and I'm telling you some of the best people on the earth work at safe houses the work that they do is so incredibly needed and I could go on and on about it but instead of me going on and on about it we put together a little video so you can hear right from Joe himself and also from some members of the safe project team and I'll let you know now that we have put up the funds with the Gabby Petito Foundation to fund a safety gate that is so very needed let's go ahead and roll that video so what is the mission of safe project yeah you're at safe project our mission is to empower and advocate for survivors of domestic violence sexual assault and stalking while promoting sustainable practices that support long-term healing along with that we focus on education and awareness efforts to focus on prevention and improve community response and outcomes can you tell us more about the services that safe project offers yeah so all the services safe project offers are free and confidential we have a 24 hour hotline an emergency shelter we do court accompaniment hospital accompaniment as well as like police reporting accompaniment we have financial aid for survivors and we can help fill out protection orders as well care at safe project we believe a lot in bringing awareness to our community so we partner with our community and we go into schools and teach about healthy relationships and healthy boundaries and consent and we also have a program called Safeman for a partner with our university and their violence prevention program and we teach about healthy boundaries there but also how to be a good bystander and just spread awareness whenever we can and how did you get in contact with safe project safe project reached out to Nikki and Tara about doing an event that they had here and then Tara and Nikki came they actually fell in love with the people that worked here because when you met up there they're really amazing yes and Nikki and Tara noticed that they didn't have a security fence around their property to be just decided that we're going to put up half and try and raise the other half and and whether that be matching donations or whatever it was that's when we heard from you you guys are going to put up the other half like that's that's fantastic it's because of that that enables us to do what we're doing here today yeah getting them that security fence to make sure that people that come you're safe yeah that's that's step one which is kind of why do we hear today and I'll tell you I'm in awe of the Higher Hope Foundation just amazing when you guys do and it's such a big deal for us to to come up here to learn me to see it first hand and you know you can just really the lay of the land and you realize like the fence is critical has a long-lasting impact right like this is not just one and done type thing where this will just provide that safety and security for years to come yeah and you know it's so great for our audience to be able to actually see the impact directly because all of this is thanks to them can you tell me more about why this project and why security fence is so needed here at Safe Project yeah so I'm here at Safe Project one of our biggest things is providing all of our clients with safety and we have taken a lot of safety measures but unfortunately without a security date we have people who can come on to the property who maybe should it be on the property we've had abusers who have showed up and I think it's really important for the healing journey of survivors that they fill 100% safe when they're here to see us confidentially but it's also really important to keep all of the staff here safe the shop is already intense and just having that little bit of extra security I think will help us our clients and the community feel safer yeah yeah I'm just so glad to hear that and thank you so much for everything you do and thank you guys for all of the support to get this date because it's not something we could have done without the support of the Higher Hope Foundation and without the Gabby Petito Foundation of course we feel privileged to be able to help love shouldn't hurt in their lives again I just wanted to say thank you to all who have supported us over the years I mean it's because of you that we are able to do things like this and like I already said just consuming our content listening to our podcast watching our shows commenting any engagement that you do with any of the mile hire media content does support Higher Hope but if you want to go the extra mile we do accept donations and we would be very very grateful they'll be a link to donate in the description box if you would like to do so and also you can shop any of our merch for any of our shows and 100% of the profit goes directly to Higher Hope but anyway I know that was a long intro thank you for sitting with me it's important and I hope you guys found that interesting and as valuable as I did but with all that being said let's go ahead and get into Madison Shammett's story now I can say with complete confidence that Madison is an incredibly intelligent just wildly driven and unbelievably talented young woman she has a sister to five siblings also a daughter to her amazing mom Jackie who I am also just in awe of and at the time that Madison was attacked she was a rising senior at Ponte Vedra High School in St. John's County Florida not to mention the fact that she was a super dedicated softball player and she actually started playing softball when she was just four years old which I am not much of an athlete but if you ask me I would think that being an athlete played a role in her work ethic and was so pivotal in her recovery and on top of that all her loved ones would tell you that she's trustworthy she's kind she's the type of person who would really do anything for anybody and honestly you guys at the end of the day Madison was and is a normal teenager and she did normal teenager things to my understanding she lived a very normal teenager life and a very normal teenager experience is having a boyfriend or a girlfriend and so around this time of year but back in 2022 October November Madison started dating a football player from her school a kid named Spencer Pearson and at first everything seemed to be going fine but then things quickly went downhill just after a few months she ended their relationship because it became clear that Spencer was a very very toxic person and that their relationship was just not a healthy one the signs included jealousy verbal manipulation and he was really just overreacting to any autonomy that she had in her life and much more and it got so bad after a while that Madison ended up having to confide in her mom Jackie about it and then Jackie ended up confronting Spencer's parents about it because it was that concerning which I just want to pause here for a second and applaud Madison and her mom for these things alone for Madison bringing this to the attention of a trusted adult is 100% the right thing to do and I'm just so impressed with how Madison handled everything at her age everything from recognizing the signs and getting help for something that she knew she just wasn't equipped to handle on her own and then Jackie did the right thing as a mom too by bringing this to the attention of Spencer's parents that they could hopefully do something about it but it seemed like no matter how many times she expressed her concern his parents never seem to stop him and it's just frustrating that even though these two did everything right something horrible horrible still happened. But anyway, back to the timeline here, so in March of 2023, Jackie even went and got coffee with Spencer's mom to talk face to face, and she specifically chose a coffee shop away from their houses because she was afraid of Spencer finding out and retaliating. Which I think we can all agree says a lot about Spencer and tells you everything you need to know about why Jackie was so freaked out. If she was that worried about just meeting up with his mom for coffee, him retaliating from that, yeah, and ultimately Madison describes her not even six month long relationship with Spencer as having made her feel suffocated, trapped, manipulated, and controlled. And sadly, Spencer's terrifying behavior only escalated after they broke up. But even 24 hours into ending things, he started stalking her and listen to this. On April 4, 2023, Madison had just finished a softball game. And after hanging out in the parking lot with some of her friends, she got in her car and started to drive away. But that's when she noticed that Spencer was there and that immediately terrified her because he had no reason to be there, clearly he was waiting for her. And she was so uncomfortable with the thought of being alone in a parking lot with him, especially late at night. And she ended up doing what she thought would be best in that moment, which was rolled down the window and asks Spencer if she could call him when she got home. Which I think in the moment was her way of sort of easing the tension from their breakup, you know, making him think everything's okay just for the safety of that moment. But as soon as she drove off, she realized that everything was not okay. And that's because she realized that Spencer was following her. As soon as he didn't turn down his straight, she knew what was going on and became very afraid of what he might do. So she pulled into a different parking lot and straight up just texted him, saying that he was scaring her. But that did not stop him. So she's freaked out. She ends up calling one of her friends to ask if she any advice, figure out what she should do. And they make a plan for Madison to just go to this friend's house because it sounds like her parents were home and that she'd be pulling up somewhere where there are other people. And I'm not sure if Madison called him or texted him, but I know that somehow she told Spencer that she'd had dropped something school-related off at this friend's house. So basically there was no need for him to keep trailing her. Yet once again, the stalking continued. In fact, he started demanding that she drive straight home because he said he knew that going to this friend's house wasn't part of her plan for that night. But she ends up going to this friend's house anyway and he still followed her. And apparently he just kind of pulled off to a nearby gas station and basically waited her out. He knew that she had to go home at some point and he was going to be ready to start following her whenever she did. Thankfully though, he did end up just driving off at some point he gave up. But I think this example just goes to show how quickly this whole situation escalated. And later on, he tried to make some excuses for why he was following her. Starting from, I wanted to make sure she got home safely to I just happened to be driving that way, just a bunch of bullshit. And this incident and just everything going on with Spencer in general made Madison feel like she had to be looking over her shoulder every time she left the house. It should be so cautious that he may be following her or watching her at any time. And it wasn't just the physical stalking that made her so afraid. He would also leave notes on her car. He would create these new social media accounts just to comment threatening things on her post after she blocked him, and one time he even accelerated his car towards her, almost like he was planning to hit her or at least scare her. And it got so bad that by the end of May, they started taking steps to get a restraining order against him. But no matter how bad things got and no matter how many times Jackie confronted their family about it, nothing was ever truly done to stop him. There was one time that we know of at least where they did something. It was in mid-April, they ended up getting Spencer to speak with a virtual counselor through a service called here tomorrow. However, his mental health declined shortly after that, which resulted in a five-day hospitalization. Yet despite his well-documented mental decline, it sounds like he was just free to go about life as normal. And because of that, Madison nearly lost her life. The day that it happened was June 3rd, 2023. It was a totally normal day for Madison. It was a Saturday, actually one of her friends from softball had spent the night the night before. And the two of them woke up early that day because they wanted to go to the beach. Sounds like a great plan, right? But then they got to the beach, and it was pretty cold and windy, so they ended up leaving after a few hours, and they met their moms and brothers at Madison's local community pool. And then after spending a little bit of time there, they decided they wanted to go ahead and grab some lunch and watch the Women's College Softball World Series. So they went home to change out of their bathing suits, and then by 2.53pm, they were blasting the song California girls on their way to Mr. Chubby's Wings. And then on the way there, Madison says they decided to text their moms to ask if they wanted to join. And this was kind of funny, but Jackie responded to the text and said, "You just want me to pay for your food." And while that was partially true, Madison also says there was something in her, a feeling that she just knew she needed her mom to be there that day. And it literally gives me chills thinking about how accurate that was. So anyway, both girls and their moms all eventually got to Mr. Chubby's Wings, and Madison says she distinctly remembers looking around when they got there to make sure Spencer wasn't around. That's how aware she was of him. I mean, for two months at this point, she had been looking over her shoulder, and this restaurant happened to be a place that she had run into him before, but she was relieved to see that he wasn't there. That is until 3.47 pm when Spencer entered Mr. Chubby's with a very specific intention. Like the sick predator that he is, he waited to make his whereabouts known to them, but then at 4.15 pm, he walked directly by their table, so they had no choice but to see that he was there. You can literally see on the surveillance video, as Madison turns her head in shock that he was at the restaurant, and instantly she was filled with that same panic and fear that she had been experiencing for weeks now, so they started talking through what they should do, and the group ultimately decided it was unsafe for Madison to be there. And that's when they alerted the restaurant staff to the situation, including the fact that this person was a threat to her safety, and after quickly paying their check, all four of them walked out. And second later, Madison's life changed forever in a way she never could have truly expected. Just as she reached her car in the parking lot, she heard her mom scream in a way that could only mean one thing. Madison turned around to see that Spencer was running towards her faster than she had ever seen him run, and before she had a chance to get away, he grabbed her and proceeded to stab her 17 times. During the attack, she begged for him to stop, but her screams just got quieter and quieter until she wasn't able to scream any longer. Within the midst of it, her spinal cord was severed, which left her unable to move or fight back. And as scary as it is to say, the truth is, Madison would have died that day if it weren't for the bravery of two people. First of all, Jackie, as fast as she could, ran over there and was on top of Spencer, trying to pry him off of her. And just like Madison, she was also stabbed. She struck her in her forehead, her arm, her leg, her hand, her hand was really, really severe. But even then, nothing was going to stop her from doing everything she could to protect her daughter. And then in another act of bravery that can only truly be described as fate, a 22 year old man named Kennedy Armstrong, had just exited his truck on his way to Mr. Chubby's with a friend when he heard their screams. And without thinking twice about it, he sprinted as hard as he could. Tackle Spencer to the ground and he was able to free both Madison and Jackie from his wrath. And the friend he was with can also be seen sprinting toward the attack in an effort to help. And during his efforts to save them, Kennedy also suffered stab wounds to his arm and his hand. But finally, the attack was over. And during this several witnesses proceeded to call 911, just as Spencer had turned the knife on his own neck, attempting unsuccessfully to take his life. And then the other witnesses were in the back of the truck. Okay, how many victims do we have, there are two victims and one is the post-partum, no, three victims. I'm sorry, there are two victims and one the guy who was stabbing, but there are three patients. This nice family came out and was there to go and then all we heard was screaming. So they're outside, they're not in the restaurant? No, they're outside. Okay. And the guy who completely, not that I know of, and the guy saw this happen and he came and his hand is completely torn apart. So we have a fourth victim, so a passerby tried to intervene at help? Yes. And he got assaulted as well? Yes. He got his hand completely. 9-1-1 is on, I'm on the phone with 9-1-1 right now. Now you would think you would hope that in a moment like this your brain would sort of block everything out, that it would go into some sort of self-preservation mode to keep you from remembering this type of trauma that you just experienced. But that, sadly, was not the case for Madison. She remembers every single painful moment of this horrific attack. Starting from when it began to the moment she realized she was paralyzed and everything that followed. There is nothing about what Spencer did to her that she forgets, which is something that no 17-year-old, no person in general, should ever have to experience. And the pain and trauma that was inflicted upon her didn't end there. The next morning, after the attack, after receiving life-saving treatment, Madison learned the news from her mom that she was paralyzed from the chest down. Even at the scene, she had told her that she was worried she couldn't feel her legs and Jackie tried to tell her that everything would be okay. The once surgery was over and she was waking up, Madison knew it was true. She turned to her mom and said, "I'm paralyzed, aren't I?" And Jackie had to tell her that she was. Think about what that would be like as a mother. Think about what that would be like for Madison to wake up and realize that you're paralyzed. And to process everything in such a short amount of time, I mean the attack itself was so short, so much damage done in such a short amount of time. And to think it was a great day. She was having a wonderful day with her friend and her mom, her brother earlier, her friend's mom. She was just everything was good. And then Spencer came in and changed her life like that. And Jackie's life was changed in that moment too. She was having surgery right away for her own injuries. And her struggle with Spencer, both ligaments on her hand were cut, one completely in half, and the other was basically down to a string, and her bone had also been cracked, which ultimately left her with the limited mobility in the thumb of her left hand. Yet even while managing her own emotional and physical recovery, she was doing everything she could to put Madison first. Now, Madison's strength is something that should be studied. I just cannot understand her ability to be so positive and determined right away. I mean, I am truly in awe of her, despite her entire world flipping upside down in moments. I mean, she was right away determined that this wasn't going to be the end of her story. Even though she had just learned that she's paralyzed, she set a goal that she was not only going to walk again, but she was going to be able to walk across the stage at her high school graduation. If anyone is ever curious what true determination and grit looks like, it looks like Madison Schemitz. I mean, almost immediately after surviving a murder attempt, her loved ones say that they knew that she was going to achieve anything she set her mind to because she already had the attitude of a fighter. And this is funny, but her sister Tatiana says that she was already cracking jokes and very much lived up to her nickname, which is sass right away. Even Jackie says that when they were in the hospital, Madison looked over at her and said, "You look like a hot mess." I just thought was hilarious and shows so much of her personality. And of course, it was in a humorous way. It just made everyone feel a little bit better like, "Hey, we're going to get through this. We still need to laugh." There's moments of joy to be found even in the darkest of moments. And it was just comforting for everyone in her life to see that Madison hadn't lost her spark that Spencer was not able to take that away from her. Now Spencer, on the other hand, he was about to face the consequences of his actions. Only two days after stabbing three innocent people, he was arrested at the hospital and charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Then, after being released from the hospital, he was booked into the St. John's County Jail and he made his first court appearance later in June. Honestly though, I want to focus as little attention as I can on Spencer today because quite frankly, he got what he deserved. I'll circle back to him when it comes to his sentencing later on, but for now, I just want to talk about Madison and her recovery because I don't know, she is just such a badass. I love her story so much and I really hope that all of you can find inspiration from it. Now Madison's community was filled with so much support right off the bat. Within days of the attack, a GoFundMe was created to help cover the cost of her and her mom's medical bills, as well as to support Jackie's income until she could start working again. And currently, that page has raised over 166,000 of their $200,000 goal. And a friend of hers, Alyssa, also had Madison's strong key chains made and the proceeds of those sales went directly to her recovery. And another thing I thought was really special was that when her mom posted an update on Facebook in early July, she included a photo of the moment when Madison met Kennedy for the first time. And I'm sure you all agree with me that Kennedy is a true hero. He's only 22 years old when this happened. He doesn't know Madison, he doesn't know Jackie, but he springs into action. That doesn't matter, he does whatever he can risk his life to save them. And Jackie is also a hero. I mean, without either of them stepping in, I would almost certainly be telling you about this case in a very different way. And I don't even want to think about that. And what's so cool about this story and about Kennedy is that he has become like family to them. He stood by Madison then and he's continued to do so every step of the way in her road to recovery and to justice. And when I said before that she wasted no time on this journey, I meant that. As soon as she was discharged from the hospital, she began her physical and occupational therapy journey at Brooks Rehabilitation Center and she put her absolute everything into it. She was a champion when it came to her PT and OT, even when, especially in those early days, it was hard to imagine walking again, given the severity of her injuries. But there was one moment in particular in the early days that gave her hope. On June 20th, she took the Asia impairment exam, which measures the severity of a spinal cord injury. And hours after being discouraged, she was asked one last time to try and move her left foot. And it worked. Her left foot moved just the tiniest bit and that's all she needed. That reignited her belief that she was going to walk again. And believe it or not, only 10 days later, she was able to stand with assistance. And of course, her progress wasn't always linear, but it was definitely going in the right direction. And she knew exactly where she was going. And then in early July, and this is really cool, Madison asked the sheriff's office if she could hold a press conference. And I'm going to play a clip from a podcast that she was on the Sheriff Hardwick in Lieutenant Haregan because I'd love for you guys to hear her explain why she did this. After about a month after this incident happened, Madison's mom reached out to the sheriff and said that they wanted to her, Madison wanted to call a press conference at Brooks at your Brooks Hospital, the rehabilitation facility in Jacksonville and she wanted to address the community. So our first thought was so this 17 year old at the time wants to call a press conference. That's usually what we do. So we were a little confused about that and I'm like, oh, I got to meet this kid. So we set that up. We organized some stuff. I found out very quickly that she was in Brooks under a false name or a different name, right? What was the name? Can you say the name? X-ray. X-ray? Oh, that's like a code name. That's like an Avengers name. My mom was Yankee. Oh, so that's like Delta Force stuff. That's pretty cool. So X-ray Yankee. I went up there in a matter and you, we brought all the media in and you addressed the community. And I think we've talked about this before, but tell us why? Did you want to literally one month in, want to address the community? I think it was honestly probably more so out of fear. I think my mom kind of talked it into my head like to avoid news and media and all of the outside world. Once I got home, I wanted to kind of just be able to go home and like, I've already said my part and then just go home and be able to keep on healing. That's awesome. What's the phrase I taught you? What is that called when you control the narrative? Control the narrative. And I wish I could play the entire podcast episode for you guys in my episode. Obviously, that wouldn't make much sense. Definitely go check it out. I'll have it linked below. It is so worth watching and it's so uplifting and funny and inspiring. And the relationship that Madison now has with these guys is just so cool, so special, so unique and I was just so moved by it. I mean, the love and respect that they have for her is so cool to see. I can't remember who exactly, but one of them said that if he was lucky to have a daughter in life, he would want her to be just like Madison. But anyway, like you guys heard in that clip, Madison's goal from the beginning was to control the narrative, which she certainly did. And she wanted to do that so that way she could return home and focus on her healing. And what I thought was really amazing is that her focus during the press conference had nothing to do with the attack itself. Instead, she thanked everyone who showed her support thus far and spoke about what the future held for her, which included opening a one-love chapter at her high school. To start, St. John's County Sheriff's Department and first responders walked too quickly and vigilantly. Next, my trauma neuro teams, I'm a memorial hospital who kept me alive and have followed me with great care since. In addition, I would also like to thank the nurses, staff, and, of course, my physical and occupational therapists and memorial hospital who have continued to show up and put us mile on my face. Now to thank the incredible staff here at Brooks Rehab Hospital. I'd like to thank my entire care team here from doctors nurses to nutritionists. The individualized care and attendments has not gone unnoticed. Next, the entire therapy staff. Without you guys, I don't know where I would be today. So thank you all for pushing me every day to reach my goals while also being a light in the darkness. I'd like to specifically thank my physical therapist Sydney and my occupational therapist Sally who have been with me every day and have shown me nothing but love, support and encouragement throughout this. I now like to thank the incredible community for the outpouring of love and support that you have all shown me and my family over the last month. I also thank my friends and my family for showing up day after day and supporting me and loving me constantly. More specifically, I thank my mom. My mom was one of my heroes that day. My love for her is endless and I'm so lucky to be her daughter. And finally, Kennedy Armstrong, the man who saved my life that day. I am forever andlessly grateful for the brave acts you showed. Kennedy is and forever will be my hero and is now family for life. I believe there's no looking back now. Everything happens for a reason. I'm incredibly lucky to be alive today. I will take each day as its own opportunity to live and make a difference in the world. Moving forward, I will be starting a one love chapter at my high school. One love moment is about creating a world with healthier relationships through education to empower and advocate for young people. The one love moment is about creating a culture where relationship violence no longer exists. I hope that by bringing the one love moment to our community and one day sharing my story, it can help others and ultimately change the way we all treat and love each other. Regarding my recovery, I am currently paralyzed from the chest down. It will be a long and hard road, but I am determined and confident in myself that I will reach my goals to one day walk again. Thank you all for the support this far. My story is just getting started. If you didn't know, one love is a great non-profit that was started by the mother of Yardley Love, who was killed as a result of teen dating violence in 2010. And Madison has since gotten involved in spreading their mission, and like you heard her say, the goal of the foundation is to create a culture where relationship violence no longer exists. By empowering and educating young people about the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. One love provides educational content and workshops both in person and online, and they have provided life-saving prevention education to millions of people. This is beyond needed. This is something where we have consistently failed our youth for decades. I will have a link to their website below if you're interested in learning more about their mission, and I highly encourage you all to check it out. There's tons of amazing free information resources there, all of which Madison has eagerly shared with her community. Realizing the signs of an unhealthy relationship and giving students tools to get out of one once they're in one is extremely important, and it needs to be taught to kids while they're still in school. Now some of those signs include intensity, manipulation, sabotage, guilt, deflecting responsibility, possessiveness, isolation, belittling, volatility, and betrayal. Teen dating violence is a very prevalent issue. It's something that urgently needs attention. I went to a conference recently where I attended a seminar specifically on teen dating violence and teen dating violence online, and I was just blown away, and education is really the most important tool when it comes to how we can all help keep our kids safe. According to a 2021 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, about one in 12 teens experience physical dating violence, and one in 10 experience sexual dating violence. And of course you have to keep in mind that's only based on who has actually reported it. And as we know, so much goes unreported, so those numbers are likely much higher. And it's just so impressive to me that not even one month after almost being killed, Madison immediately jumped into ways that she could help others. She's already brought so much awareness to her community, and I'm just so confident that she's going to continue to do that in the future and probably for the rest of her life. Tell us about the one love foundation and how important that organization is to you, and for people that may not know what it is, maybe give a brief overview of that, and why you kind of align yourself with them. So one love is a national nonprofit organization started by a woman named Sharon Love, whose daughter Yardda Love was brutally murdered in the early 2000s by her ex-boyfriend at the University of Virginia. Her mom started it as a way to kind of help inspire and educate other people on domestic violence, dating violence, and all the statistics and what to do when you're involved or what to do when you know someone involved. So very early on, I kind of align myself with them and have used my platform to kind of help share one love's message. Her physical therapist Sydney said that she is one of the hardest working patients that they've ever had, and no matter what they asked her to do, she was ready to make the effort. If someone ever canceled and there was an opening, she was the first to say that she wanted to fill the spot, and regardless of how difficult it may have felt at times, she just never gave up. And both Madison and Jackie say that her team at Brooks Rehabilitation Center made all the difference. They were able to turn something that is incredibly hard and emotional into something that was fun and light and just made it a point to keep the environment very positive for Madison's sake. And she really gives a lot of credit to her physical therapist Sydney who she says, pushed her even when things weren't pretty or didn't look perfect. And just to add to how impressive she already is, Madison even took the time to be actively involved with other younger kids who were also going through rehab. Of course, no one was asking her to be a mentor. But regardless, she just began to show her support for others because she is just that type of person and she was encouraging them all through really challenging times, all while balancing her own therapy and continuing in school. And Jackie says that from the time that Madison was young, she'd always just been that type of person to look after others like this was nothing new. And mind you, she had been going through her recovery almost completely behind closed doors. Her friends and family obviously knew about it, but it wasn't something that she publicized. And it wasn't until she reached her goal and took those steps at her graduation in May of 2024 that people got to see everything that she had been working towards. And I'm sure there wasn't a dry eye in the whole room. And I haven't even watched the video today. Every time I've watched it earlier this week, I have just cried so hard. I can't even tell you like, I am definitely pregnant, but I how can you not? It's just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. God, to see her walk across that stage and for everyone to erupt in cheers, and I'm sure there were so many people that were just shocked, had no idea that that was even a goal of hers. And she receives this very well-deserved standing ovation. It is just so beautiful. [Applause] And then after this, on the one year anniversary of almost losing her life, Madison posted this very emotional, beautiful video to her Instagram that documents everything that she had been through over those last 365 days. And it showcases her struggles and her triumphs and all the moments in between. And like, God, it just brings me in tears every time I see it. You can see her smiling and laughing through trying to relearn how to walk and the determination in her face as she gains the strength that once came so easily to her body. I can't play the video due to copyright restrictions, but I will definitely have that one linked below for you guys. And please, I really encourage you to take a moment to watch it. There's no way that you could watch it and then walk away not feeling completely inspired. God, it's just amazing. And I also want to encourage you to follow Madison on social media. Her Instagram is @MadisonShemits and that way you can send her some words of support and follow her journey and keep getting inspiration from her. And Madison, if you happen to see this, oh my gosh, I don't even know what to say to you. Thank you. Thank you for the inspiration that you have given to so many people myself included. Your story is just so beautiful. Your strength, your relationship, your mother, it's all just so uplifting to see. And I'm truly grateful to have learned about your case and your story. I also wanted to let you know that my team will be reaching out to offer you a hope grant if that is something you're interested in from my foundation higher hope. You could not be more deserving of something like that. And it would be our honor to find some way that we can support you. There are so many heroes in Madison's story, but Madison, you are here to the way that you have turned what happened into an opportunity to help others is just beyond selfless. And your sheer determination and grit is more inspiring to so many people that I can even put into words clearly. And if any of you are wondering how she has the strength to do it all, which I wonder to, there's actually a quote that she said really helped her through all of this. It's a very famous quote by Winston Churchill. I'm sure a lot of you know. it. If you're going through hell, keep going. This is actually something that I kept saying to myself when I was giving birth. And I think it's a great quote that can apply to so many different things in life. And someone said it to her while she was in the hospital. And ever since then, it's become really her mantra in her path to recovery. There's a one thing I wanted to bring up. There's a quote that you often refer to or you often use that's been very inspirational to you. Can you share the story of that quote and what it is? So very early on when I was still at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, I had a respiratory therapist come in at probably closer to four or five in the morning. And he was an older gentleman. He's probably the nicest sweetest older guy that you could probably imagine. But he came in. And obviously, I was in rough shape at that point. And it was never enjoyable when they came in. But he came in and was telling us his own life story and how he ended up as a respiratory therapist after COVID and all these things. And then shared that if you're going through hell, keep going quote by Winston Churchill and then explained it in a way that really resonated with me as in like if you're going through hell, like why would you want to stay there? You'd never want to stay there. So you just have to keep going and get out of it. And since then, I I've had one chance to speak to him since then and was able to thank him and tell him how impactful that really was for me. But it really did resonate with me and it's been something that I've continued to share with people. I have it tattooed on me now. Now I think it goes without saying that the hell that she was going through wasn't just the physical side of her injuries. Of course, that was the hell of its own, but it was also the emotional trauma that she endured. It's hard to remember that at one point Spencer was someone that she cared deeply about. And now she had to face him in court for his sentencing hearing, which I just have to say she handled, of course, it's not shocking. But with so much grace and courage, he ended up pleading guilty to three out of five total charges in July of 2024. So rather than sit through a trial, a hearing was held in November to determine how long his sentence would be. And going into it, he was facing about 18 years to life. Not surprisingly though, his attorneys attempted to convince the judge to give him a more lenient sentence. They had psychological testing performed on Spencer, which they say shows he suffered from major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder and social phobia. They also argued that he suffered from CTE, which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops after repeated head injuries. It is a terrible disease we often hear about it most when it comes to football players. But what's crazy about it makes it even more difficult is you actually can't be diagnosed with it while you're alive. The patient has to be dead for them to make a diagnosis. But yeah, his attorneys tried to say that Spencer likely suffers from this after years of playing football. And maybe he does. And they argued that potentially having CTE plus a sudden breakup was what caused him to lose a major part of his identity, which then triggered this event. And they also tried to argue that he didn't understand the consequences of his actions because of his age, which I just can't help but roll my eyes out. I mean, come on. He was 18 when this happened. You're telling me that 18 isn't old enough to understand the consequences of stabbing someone 17 times and also stabbing two other people. Please luckily though the judge saw right through this bullshit and was totally team Madison. And I don't know how you could really be anything else in this situation. And during the hearing, she gave an unforgettable victim impact speech. She outlined every single moment she remembered from the day Spencer tried to kill her. Her speech is long, so I'm only going to put in part of it. But I encourage you to watch or listen to the full thing. I will have it linked in the description box or in the show notes as well. Again, it's worth checking out it's worth listening to my name is Madison Shem. Your honor. I'd like to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for your time and commitment to the last 538 days. Thank you for taking this matter so seriously and for working the incredibly difficult job you do. It is truly honorable and we all appreciate it. I've thought about this day, this moment, this statement, every single day for the last 538 days. 538 days of living in true torment, 538 days that regardless of the circumstances always have the same dark cloud living over 538 days of constantly reliving the trauma the defendant put me through. Your honor, I say 538, as that is how many days it has been since June 3rd, 2023. But the truth is the torment, the dark cloud and the trauma I've endured dates back much further than June 3rd. As a then 16 year old high school girl, I deserve to live a life that many 16 year old girls do. I deserve the opportunity to form relationships with him ever I wanted. I deserve the opportunity to be happy in these relationships. I deserve the opportunity to learn and grow from these relationships and most importantly I not only deserve but had every right to remove myself from relationship instead of making me feel happy and safe and driving me down in every way. Those 2 months following the breakup or torture, those 2 months I was put in a decision by the defendant where I felt scared, worried and constantly threatened, but I was never prepared for it for the years to come alive. June 3rd, 2023 was without a doubt the absolute worst, most dramatic date of my life that I remember every single second of it. As a 17 year old teenage girl, on a Saturday in the summer, my day started as any other day would have for me. I had one of my best friends and met through a cell phone town to spend the weekend. We had stayed to play and woke up early, excited for the plans we had made for that day. Once we woke up, we got ready to go to the beach. The day was Monday and almost cold for being a Saturday in June. After some time being there, we both got cold and decided we would leave the beach and go join our moms and brothers at my community pool. During this week in June, the women's college stopper role serious was happening. Eventually we decided we would go get something to eat and watch the games happening that day. This decision unknowingly became my life or death's decision. I remember going home sometime between 210 and 250 to change out of our bathing suits and get ready to go to Mr. Shelby's Wings. I went to 53 and my friend and I were in the car blasting California Girls by Katy Perry on the way to the restaurant. I remember sitting at the stoplight leaving my neighborhood and texting both our moms asking if they would come with us. I remember my mom responding saying you just want me to pay for your food, which although may have been true, I had this feeling that they just had to be there. And to this day, I am still unable to fully explain why I felt so strongly about wanting them to come with us. By Friday night, I wrapped the restaurant a little bit before my mom stood and as I walked in, the defendant came to mind. I entered the restaurant and looked around to make sure he was not there before we sat down and eat. As I knew, I had previously run into him there within those two months. At 3.43, the defendant pulled into the parking lot. At 3.47, the defendant walked into the restaurant and knowingly walked right past me. By 4.15, the defendant had gotten out and walked past us to make his presence known. At 4.15 was when that same fear set in. After going back and forth on what to do, we could interject and decide to leave the restaurant. At 4.28, myself, my mom, my friend, and her mom all stood up and walked out. Never in a million years did I think that I would never end up making it to my car. I remember finally reaching my car and hearing my mother scream. Knowing my mother, I could hear her fear. This was when, at 4.30 p.m. on June 3rd, 2023, I turned around and saw the defendant running towards me faster than I had ever seen her run before. Not knowing what was coming next, I turned and attempted to go in the opposite direction. This was when the defendant had grabbed me. I hit the ground and began feeling the attack. I remember being on my hands and knees begging for the defendant to get off me with my scream slowly becoming more and more silent. I remember staring at the ground, my thoughts being muffled by my mother's constant scream. The scream that had burst the warmly did not stop throughout the entirety of the attack. And frankly, I can still hear it to the state. I remember hoping for the pain to stop and feeling my mom pulling him off of me. I remember finally being let go and falling to the ground because at that point, my body had been paralyzed. Little at that end of the meeting, like I was on that moment, my mom was now being made another victim of the attack. Your honor, a 7-year-old girl should not know the feeling of getting stabbed. I remember feeling an impact against my mother, the defendant and I, which was the moment Kennedy Armstrong had ultimately saved her lives. I remember finally opening my eyes but still being unable to see. I remember asking my mom to go off with me because she was now actively gliding onto my face and into my eyes. I remember finally realizing I had been stabbed and then I could no longer feel my legs. I remember the moment I realized I was paralyzed. I remember struggling to breathe in formulae words. I remember telling my mom I could not find my lights to what she responded. It was okay and everything would be okay. But I can hear her voice that it wasn't okay. She didn't know if it would be okay and just how scared she was. After this, Madison went on to talk about all the moments that followed, including being airlifted to the hospital. The moment she had her chest tubes pulled out and how every day she's had to relive the memory of what Spencer did to her. From the constant nightmares where she's reliving the attack, to the hours she spent relearning how to do something as simple as sit up on her own, Madison will never forget how this has impacted her life. Yet despite this, she talked about how she chooses to be positive every single day and how she's using everything that happened to her to inspire others. She also talked about the impact she saw this attack have on her friends and family who experienced trauma in their own individual ways. And even still, they chose to find light in the darkness of it all. They each suffered daily as their mother and sister were almost taken from them. I watched as they all stepped up to be there for us when we could be there for them. I watched as they're innocent. And towards the end, she also talked about some of her accomplishments, which I really loved. She fought so hard to be where she is today, and she's done so much to motivate others, and I loved that she took the time to include that in her speech. Your Honor, I've accomplished every single goal I've set on out since the attack. I attended my senior year, I walked and got a hit on my senior night for softball, I walked unassisted at my high school graduation, I am a full-time college student, and I even walked into this very courtroom, and I'm currently reading a victim-impact statement in front of not only the whole world, but my attempt to kill her and his family. Just as I said, I would when the attack first happened. I've spoken and shared my story of survival and resilience on many different platforms, such as in front of the media, upon which her high school was the Betty Griffin Center, St. John's County Fire Rescue and Sheriff's Office events, or through the rotation of Memorial Hospital, a police conference in Washington State, and so on. I started to wave with one of the chapters throughout our community, including at the University of North Florida, that I promised I would continue to use my story and my platform to inspire and motivate and help others in every way I can. Your Honor, I mention all of my accomplishments as I have proud of them. I'm proud of the human I am, the impact I've made, and how I've handled myself these last 530 days as a reminder that I turned myself from being a victim to a survivor. But even with everything she's been able to achieve, she mentioned that it doesn't take away from the ways where she still struggles, the PTSD, the sleepless nights, the fact that she will always wonder who she can trust. Those things are going to follow her for a long time. And because of that, and because of everything else Spencer did to her, she believes he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison. And so did Jackie, and her victim in Pax Beach was equally as moving. "My name is Jacqueline Marjay, and I'm the extremely proud mother of Madison Chemitz. First, I'd like to thank you, Your Honor, for all your time with this case. I imagine your job to be extremely difficult. Thank you Kennedy, for saving my daughter's life. I cannot ever express how much you mean to me and my family. You are the abatone of what a man should be, and I'm grateful for your parents for raising such a superhuman. Thank you to our amazing first responders who then kept Madison alive. You guys are our family now, and we love you also deeply. To the Memorial Trauma Team and Nero Team for being so amazing, and taking care of my daughter like she was your own, Brooks Rehab Hospital, Impatient, and Outpatient. I'll never be able to express my gratitude enough. Madison has made tremendous gains with your help and support. Thank you to all of our friends and community for rallying around us, and helping us through the worst time anyone can imagine, and you're still here rallying. To the St. John's County Sheriff's Office, you all are an amazing team of incredible people, and our community is so lucky to have you all protecting us. And I want to stress all of this, so you, Spencer, know who Madison's people are, who has her back, and that you'll never get to her ever again. I cannot believe I ever loved you, and I worried about you, and I genuinely thought you were a good kid, what a fool I was, and I have to figure out how to get over that guilt that I have. You're evil, and that's that. You handed Madison a life sentence on June 3rd, 2023, and it only seems fitting that you get the same. While Madison has been very private with her recovery, I have to watch my daughter struggle every night and day because of you. You have no idea how much pain you've caused my family, and you never will. You've stolen from my whole family, and that's unforgivable. You don't deserve to breathe the same air as someone as amazing as Madison, and I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing that. I haven't slept more than four hours in a year and a half. I wonder how you sleep every day, and I wonder how your parents sleep. This isn't fair, and I'm not as strong as Madison, and I'm not recovering quite as beautiful as she is. I shouldn't be in fear every day, every minute for my kids' lives. You did this. You don't deserve to ever be free to instill more fear on me or my children. I live in constant fear of dying and leaving Madison to worry about a day you're free, and I'm not there to save her. That is not fair. None of this is. I spent her entire senior year sitting in my car in the senior just in case because of you, you're a monster. I pray for my family's peace, and I pray for you and your family to have the lives you deserve. Thank you, Your Honor. And then I also wanted you guys to hear a little bit from Kennedy, as well. Out of respect to the Corps, Madison, and Miss Jackie, I'm not going to say everything I feel. This guy could not handle a breakup and proceeded to plan on the murder of Madison. His eyes intended to leave a family grieving while he took the cowardly away out. A man who cannot handle a breakup decided to take the time to stalk, stab, and try to kill a young woman. Doing some fact that many lives, family, friends, and those are our community. Laying the trauma when you're in a shant on the night of June 3rd, 2023, let me let many thoughts. First being, others weren't alive. Second being, why did this happen? Third, will my hand ever work again? Laying the trauma, all I was planning for was to help you, Madison and Miss Jackie. You plan this. You know what you're doing. And thanks to God, you failed. You failed at your plan murder attempt. You failed at your own [inaudible] and you remained a failure until God, until you see God. He sends you to the devil. Madison and Miss Jackie's recovery has been something I wouldn't wish upon anybody, except you. To close things out, you thought you were going to kill people that day, but he said you blew on an amber that sparked a fire inside of Madison, and that fire wouldn't continue. God bless the Corps under the progress in a tingle unfold. In total, there were 69 pages of victim impact letters written by 46 people, each of which spoke to the kind of person Madison is and how Spencer's actions have forever changed her life. And his dad actually took the stand as well, and he only spoke for a few minutes, but he's meant the majority of that time apologizing to Madison, Jackie, and Kennedy for what his son did to them. And he asked the judge for some mercy. And Spencer deserves a chance to have a life, Spencer needs help. I know that without a doubt, he's got a lot of issues, a lot of mental problems, I'm worried about his head injuries, Spencer was never violent, he was a good kid. I don't know what happened. I believe Spencer can be rehabilitated and I believe he needs that chance. And even Spencer himself addressed the judge, and I'm not going to play it because I don't think he deserves any air time, but basically he apologized for his actions and said that he understands why they all hate him so much. He also said that he knows he needs help and that he's needed it for a long time. And in the end, the judge ruled that he'll never spend a day out of prison ever again. He got life without parole, that's right, life without parole is the sentence that he walked away with. And I personally believe that that was the right decision. Following his sentence, another press conference was held and Madison was given the opportunity to speak. And she once again expressed her very sincere gratitude to every single person who helped her along this journey. And I love that she ended this speech with a very positive message about what the future holds for her. As we move forward from here, we are focused on healing and rebuilding, this chapter though challenging is now behind us, and while it will take time, we are committed to moving forward with hope and strength. For me, the journey is far from over, there are still many steps to take, many challenges ahead, and many lessons to learn. But with the support of those who have stood by me, I'm confident that I will continue to grow stronger each day. What's next is about finding peace, embracing the future, and using the strength I've gained to help others who may face similar struggles. I know that healing is a process, and while it won't happen overnight, I'm determined to keep moving forward with gratitude for all the people who have supported me with a renewed sense of purpose. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far. I look forward to what comes next knowing that together we are stronger. My story truly is just beginning. What's really special is after this, Madison had the privilege of awarding both her mom and Kennedy with the Carnegie Medal for bravery. This medal is offered by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and is given to people in the United States and Canada who risk their lives to save or attempt to save others. It's considered the highest civilian honor for heroism in North America. And I can't think of two more deserving people. And the fact that Madison got to be the one to present them with these medals is really, really special. And then of course, we can't forget about all of the first responders who worked seamlessly to save her life. And everyone at the hospital of course, and Brooks Rehabilitation Center, who only ever encouraged Madison to reach her goals. Not to mention her community, who showed her endless support, and continues to show her that daily support. And it's just really nice to talk about a case where despite something truly horrific happening, there seems to be this glimmer of hope. And we've talked a lot about how Madison and her mom took all the right steps. But technically, not everyone took the right steps. Which is why Madison and her mom filed a lawsuit against Spencer's parents, as well as against Mr. Trubby's wings. In this lawsuit, it's alleged that Spencer's parents were notified of his dangerous behavior multiple times, yet they still allowed him to be in possession of the night that was used in the attack. And you guys, the night had been a gift from his parents. It literally had his name carved on it. So they knew it was something he was in possession of during a time where he was mentally unfit. Now as for Chubby's, the lawsuit alleges that employees were notified of the impending danger of Spencer being at their restaurant while Madison was around. And they did not act on their duty to take necessary precautions to keep her safe from quote, "reasonably for seeable criminal attacks." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find much more information about the outcome of the lawsuit. But an update I do know of is that as of December 2024, Spencer's attorney said that they are planning to appeal his sentence, which is of course not a shock, right? Hopefully, that's not something that goes very far. I highly doubt it will be. If for some reason there is an update there that you need to know about. I'll be sure to pin a comment. If there's any major change. And as for what the future holds for Madison, all I know is that no matter what she chooses to do with her life, she is going to find success. She's in college right now. And in that podcast I mentioned earlier, she said that getting a degree is really important to her, but she didn't know exactly what she wanted to major in. I'm not sure what she ended up choosing, but she did say in the podcast that she sees herself working at the St. John's County Sheriff's Office. - Hey, I got a question for you. Where do you see, you're a strong person. - Where do you see Madison in five years? - Five years, graduated from college. - Yep. - Working for you. - Hmm, I was hoping you could say, 'cause I was actually ready to say, we can just stop this right now. You'll be working for Rob Harwick. Probably that five years is a long goal. - Two. - Two. - Yeah. - Okay. - You need to speak college up. I know your grades are stellar. (laughing) - I'm definitely going to keep a look out for the amazing work that Madison continues to do in her life because I know that she will. And to all of you who have watched this whole episode, I just wanted to say thank you. Teen dating violence is an issue that needs to be talked about as much as we possibly can. It's a massive issue. And I think it's so important to tell stories like this also because sometimes teens are able to learn about these things best from their own peers. So the fact that Madison brought it to her high school and is continuing to work with one love after graduating is going to make a big impact. I hope Madison's story has inspired you all as much as it has inspired me. I know that everyone has their own challenges at the end of the day, their own battles. And you know, we all face them in our own unique ways. But I hope this is a nice reminder to all of you. It was a nice reminder to me that you just have to keep going. And anything is possible when you set your mind to it. You never give up. I'm gonna cry again. Oh Madison, you are amazing. I just, wow. That is gonna be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendal Ray. I will be back with another episode soon. But until then, stay safe out there. [BLANK_AUDIO]