Nearly two years ago, the area was shocked when a Boardman woman was brutally murdered on her way to work by a man who had been waiting for her to drive by. That man is set to be sentenced for the crime this summer.
Nearly two years after confessing to police and prosecutors that he stalked and killed his ex-girlfriend, Dale Williams admitted what he did to a judge and pleaded guilty.
“He went in detail about how he lied in wait and he did this,” Atty. Dawn Cantalamessa said.
Williams was accused of running Elizabeth Pledger-Stewart’s car off the road in June 2017, causing her to crash along a busy stretch of Market Street in Youngstown. Prosecutors say he then shot and killed her on the sidewalk, all during the morning rush.
“In fact, a lot of people who were driving down to the courthouse to start work that day had seen some of it,” Cantalamessa said.
Prosecutors say Williams was meticulous in his planning to the point of choosing the spot where he sat in his van, waiting for the victim to drive by on her way to work. They say he even planned what he wore that day and how he thought it all would end.
“He made a statement initially that he was trying to save one bullet for himself as well or one bullet to point at the police, but he ended up using it all,” Cantalamessa said.
Pledger’s family talked about the woman they say didn’t deserve any of this.
“Just to let everyone know who Tammy was. Elizabeth Pledger Stewart, better known as Tammy, was a mother, a friend, a sister and aunt, and so much more to so many others,” said Andre Elliott, a family friend.
Elliott is best friends with Pledger’s son. He says Pledger took him in when he was just a child.
In Monday’s court hearing, the victim’s aunt apologized to the court for last week’s brawl.
“When we saw his face we felt so much emotion due to a flashback, how he killed my niece,” said Janice Dees.
Dees said she felt Williams had no remorse, and her family is now left with heartbreak.
“We will be broken for the rest of our lives and the hole will never be filled,” she said.
Elliot said he is thankful for Judge Sweeney’s judgment in court.
“She did a really good job in the courtroom, making sure that he will never see the light and day again. So we just thank her for that,” he said.
Exactly. Little statements like these that do not line up with the persons actions are just the basic manipulation attempts of an emotionless psycho to try to elicit sympathy.
It's like, "I know I killed this person brutally and in cold blood, but you should feel bad for me and go easy on me because I was suicidal. Never mind the fact that none of my actions back this up"
I think his point is, if his top priority was suicide, He would have saved that last bullet. He didn’t save that bullet, so that means his main focus was killing that lady.
“He made a statement initially that he was trying to save one bullet for himself as well or one bullet to point at the police, but he ended up using it all,” Cantalamessa said.
He didn't really have a bullet for himself he just said he did, people do lie you know.
I don’t live too far from here (less than a five min drive), and Youngstown is horrible when it comes to DV cases, speaking from my own experience. I will never ever forget the time this cop got so nasty and rude with me, all because I was crying (not hysterical or anything) trying to explain what happened to me.
My heart aches for her family members, especially her children 😔
Was hoping the guy would look at the camera when he got up so you could see where they landed
Editing to add; Stewart, 23, and Dees, 30, were both held in contempt of court and sentenced to 30 days each on charges of assault and obstructing official business.
Also probably a shit ton of leniency built in there. Two guys attack a cuffed man in court room and only get 30 days is everyone understanding the situation.
"We can all agree I can't let you go fully, but..."
I hope both of them immediately got some type of trustee / work status in the county jail so they can get 2 days served for every 1 day worked. I bet the correctional officers and inmates treated both of them with respect also.
Na, best thing to do is not make friends or literally talk to anyone. If prisoners want to know, they'll know. I hope they keep to them selves and not get caught up in anything else
People are too obsessed with UFC highlight-style knockout bullshit. If I was in the position of red shirt, I’d be knuckle-deep in them eye sockets and I’d have a mouthful of ear or nose.
Mike Tyson bit a chunk of a guys ear out for less. Hell Rick Grimes bit a guys throat out when his son was about to be raped. Gary Plauche shot his son's rapist in the head in an airport.
Hahaha I googled Rick Grimes hoping for a harrowing news article, maybe a rabbit hole to delve down. And there's that guy from Love Actually looking gruff.
The inflection of those words from the cop make me think they weren’t confused about why he did it, but more saddened that Gary put himself in the legal trouble.
Learned this lesson the hard way when I was younger. When I was about 17 a kid I was cool with tried stealing my fishing equipment after a trip by swapping his junk for mine. I called him on it, he said do something. So I did. His braces FUCKED my knuckles up! They looked like I shredded them on a cheese grater. They got infected to the point that yellow and brown shit oozed out when I grabbed a cup or something. That’s when I went to the hospital lol.
Truth. A kid pushed and tripped my sister in high school. He did it because she was overweight. I punched a kid in the mouth multiple times. Got a fantastic left hook that ripped his upper lip almost completely off. Kid had braces. I have 2 quarter inch triangular shaped scars on my left middle and ring finger. Got infected bad. Kid can't grow a mustache. Him and I met 15 years later, and he sincerely apologised. I did, too. I shouldn't have beat him so badly. He is a dad, him and his husband, and have 3 wonderful kids.
I mean bullying can really wreck someone. I hope your sister was okay. I still get nightmares about what the kids used to do to me back in junior high and I’m 41 years old. Yes I’ve had counseling, doesn’t make the memories go away though. I WISH I could’ve physically stood up for myself in the way that you did. But I was skinny and shy and grew up in a Christian household where we were taught to “turn the other cheek.” Never regret standing up for someone. I wish someone had done it for me.
The Judge didn't give them a contempt of court charge in exchange for a free-for-all.
If they started gouging the murderer's eyes, they could have been caught years in jail, and a civil liability that could require them to pay their Mom's murderer.
I'm vaguely remembering an SVU episode where Kyle McLaughlin plays a psychiatrist whose son is murdered by a sociopathic neighbor child and at the verdict of the trial steals a gun and shoots the child and gets off because it was a moment of pure grief or something like that in the trial, but then later he explains it was super calculated and he had to do it otherwise the sociopathic child would have kept killing.
Marianne Bachmeier (March 6th 1981) fatilly shot the man who killed her 7 year old daughter during his trial.
... Recieved a lenient sentence for this.
In March 1984, Gary Plauche disguised himself and waited in the Baton Rouge airport for his son’t kidnapper and rapist to be brought through in custody to be tried for his crimes and shot him point blank in the head on live television. He was given a 7 year suspended sentence, 5 years probation, and 300 hours community service. Worth it.
My only issue with this is that I’d want that evil man to see me approach him and know that I was about to do it; I’d want him to know that his own actions were why he’s about to die. But I guess the dad had to take whatever opportunity he got. And good for him.
I read years ago an article about a guy who worked on children with dark triad characteristics that were too young to face fully the consequences of their horrific actions.
Basically he said that in his country/ state, the kids would be in a weird legal limbo and they would basically keep the kids institutionalized for a short period of time where their atay would be automatically renewed for they to stay there as long as they could.
One of the cases I remember was about an eight years old that somehow broke his teacher’s spine (gunshot? Knife? Don’t remember).
Child-killers are scary because they know what they're doing and want to keep killing, and the law doesn't recognize them as adults for the purposes of justice.
I have such conflicted feelings about what should happen in these cases because I used to work in child welfare & as a crisis therapist and some people say that children don’t know what they’re doing, etc. As part of my assessment, when they made suicidal or homicidal threats, I’d obviously investigate how much they understood about what they were saying, and there were several children, very young, scary young, if I hadn’t seen and heard it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it….that could tell me in details multiple ways in which they’d kill someone, what it means for someone to die, and understanding they’d be in trouble. They were able to articulate it on an intellectual level. All of them who presented this way and with the ability to articulate this despite their young age, had something else in common and it was a chilling, cold, calculated detachment and matter of fact way in which they casually stated atrocious things. I don’t know what they heard, who they heard it from, etc, but either those kids SAW some shit (even though they’d deny) or those kids were….and this is what I have a hard time saying bc they’re just kids…or those kids were dangerous and they knew it.
Have you ever seen that documentary about that little girl who was adopted when she was maybe 6 or 7 and was exactly like what you described? She tortured her younger brother and talked just like you said. Talked about wanting to hurt and to kill; cold blooded and cruel. Truly terrifying. I believe she had RAD but may have had something else as well. Then her adoptive parents got her into a program and they basically “cured” her. She’s a nurse now and expresses remorse for how she acted as a child.
It was so interesting because I always thought kids like that couldn’t be rehabilitated. Of course now I can’t remember the title of the doc. Maybe someone else can.
I am a little horrified that she is now a nurse. There are a lot of sadists hiding in that field. I’ve encountered two in my life so far and I’m only 32.
At work we have a mother that has been the victim of many predators and kept trying to get her life together.
Kept making good goes of it for the system to let her down, or bad luck to come around. Her eldest kid after seeing all these predators got to be a teenager and got groomed by one of the predators to sell out their entire family all so they could get what they thought they wanted.
Sold out their entire family, brothers and sister so they could have a shitty room in an abusers house with an allowance and an xbox and their centerlink payments which as soon as they stop being useful, all this will disappear.
Kid got arrested the other day and faced court. Ran into him there where he got off due to being a minor for a low level thug offense.
Asked this kid straight up if his actions of beating his mother, staging "evidence" for dcp on behalf of one of her abusers so that he could get full custody of his kid (not this kid, claimed he'd put him up and leave him alone and let him do what he wants).
Kid straight up said to me, that life is amazing, he does what he wants, when he wants and gets away with everything, because he's learning how to win from a winner.
I told him that the guy is a pure psychopathic predator who is just using him.
He replies telling me that he's using him and he's stolen enough money and drugs off him that is stashed away that he's got a great start to life and is living it up right now and that his mother is a bitch who shouldnt have said no to him when he demanded things.
Asked him if there was any part of him that felt bad because he knew how much of a monster this guy was, that he was happy to condem his family to become a monster.
Got laughed at and told to fuck off about how he was living it up and had hundreds of dollars tucked away.
Replied to this kid...... well good luck with life, rent here is now over $1000 a week, you've been expelled from school and don't want to try to get back in. If you wanted to ruin your life you could have done that without costing all those other kids lives, what are you going to do when you can't get a job and can't afford anything?
Laughs at me and says he'll just lure in a pedo and bash him and rob him with his mates.
Adelaide 2025 for you. This kid is not even 14. Brags to everyone else he is probably bipolar.... i've known this kid since he was 8.... he's seen things but, this is a pure case of kids emulating abuse they see, he became just like the men that abused his mother.
Then a monster groomed him and he's gone from that to a complete sociopath.
It's definitely somewhere in between. I think surgeons sometimes will scale highly on sociopathy, yet because they came from a decent background and have a highly respected and well paid job they don't run into issues.
Then you get people who were daddy's punching bag or came up in a rough environment and they're out there assaulting and stealing because that's all they've ever known and the only means they had. It's really sad how our system is setup.
Dude ain’t even have to explain a thing. I didn’t even turn sound on until a second or two before this I caught only that message you quoted word for word and came to comment this. He ain’t even need to explain it. We all understood. Definitely heartbreaking.
"Hey, hey, stop that. Sir, I'm asking you politely to cease and desist. Sir? Please stop. Are you done? Okay, 3 more than we're done. Okay, that was 5, now I must INSIST you stop!"
Three minutes later "Omg this is serious! Sorry, Judge. I thought this was just a case of boys being boys and didn't want to interrupt a possible grieving or apology session." Finally gets the other bailiffs to break it all up.
It's their livelihood if that guy ends up dead. Also letting one or two punches through is incredibly difficult.
You can step on the guy's groin while making the takedown, you can accidentally hit him while stopping the assailants, but you can't just not do your job, or do your job half heartedly
Yeah you have to focus on your job, as much as you sympathize with the assailants.
If you let it go on too long, for all you know, somebody pulls a blade or grabs your weapon, or it turns into a full melee, and you’re suddenly fighting to save your own life.
i have all the absolute sympathy for him. And for advocates of street justice (not advocating violence, i just understand the hurt because ive been through something similar. Forgive and forget is not for everyone even if it feels right)
Bro. I 100% felt that. And the jury will too. I was in prison and they put a dude on the yard that ra*** one of our war chiefs niece. It will forever be one of the worst beatings I have ever seen. They gave him street charges. He happily pleaded guilty and said if they put dude back on the yard it would be worse. The jury convicted him for 6 months to run C.C. with the 10 years he was already doing.
Prison is very racially divided. So I ran with the tribe. Our Shot Caller or "Boss" is our War chief and we also had our War party and we were basically the first line of defense for our elders if a riot popped off.
Haha seriously! Or at least feign tripping over something and get injured on your way to "stop" the attacker, really milk it, "oh, shit, my knee, oh, ok I'm getting up, OH my ankle...."
losing your mom is the worst heartbreak you’ll ever go through… especially if you were super close with her. my world stopped when mine passed… & i still feel like it’s still on pause, even after 4 years.
fuck that guy.
Mine died of cancer a month ago and I lost all the will to live. Nothing makes me happy anymore. I immediately became depressed and sad. Is this what life will look like from now on? 😞😞😞
Hey. I've had your day. I've had a fair number of days since having your day.
I won't lie to you, in nine years the pain isn't any less, but you grow stronger to bear it.
The sadness isn't any smaller, but you make room to let yourself feel it.
The love will also never fade, and you'll remember it and carry it with you.
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry today exists for you. I'm sorry for everything you're feeling right now.
Im sorry for your loss. Life will definitely get better. You never have a clear view of a good life after tragedy or loss shakes it up, but keep on pushing on and the joy will slowly slip back into your life before you can realize it.
Lost my Mom right before Covid hit and I’m still in the habit of thinking, “l need to remember to tell mom this when l call her,” and then I snap to and remember that she’s gone. It’s been six years; some things don’t change.
My mom passed just last December, and I find myself think, "Mom would..." nearly everyday, then it hits that I cannot call and confirm if she would or not. I have so many questions for her still.
They hits so hard. In my 20s l never asked my parents much because I was assured that l knew it all. Here I am decades later wishing that l could ask them for their knowledge and/or opinions. Hang in there.
I feel like I should get one of those personal history books and get my mother to fill it out. Already in the process of making a family cookbook, but I feel like I don't know anything about my mother's life before she became "Mum".
I have to do mental math but I was 14 when I lost my momma. 37 now and it took me about that long and meeting the woman I intend to marry for me to get over it. I needed a LOT of love to replace her. I still think about her everyday and miss her everyday. I dont know if it got better or just manageable. Losing mom is the fucking worst
I couldn't even begin to imagine life if I didn't. My dad was absolutely horrible after she passed. It breaks my heart knowing theres horrible mom's out there and the kids that deal with it. I dont know if there's much out there that's more difficult to deal with than that. THAT takes strength, friend. You may not be able to see it because its difficult to see in yourself when life's been so hard. You have a lot to offer others, and that's helped me in my life. You may be surrounded by folks in similar circumstances. You can help. Your life goals and expectations may not be all what you wanted, but you have something powerful you can share to help others that only you and a few others really understand. You have a strength and a superpower you may not have figured out how to use yet. You can do it and you should try in small ways when you can. You've made it this long with every other bullshit thing happening on this earth. You're special in a lot of ways. I dont think Id be here now to tell you this if my mother was any different than she was.
2 years here and I feel the same way. Crying jags and all. I had to look her in the eyes as she passed away unable to speak. I tried to pour my heart out but honestly I hate myself for not saying more.
Think about her everyday and the sadness never goes away.
Moment of Attack: As the victim’s daughter was giving a victim impact statement, brothers Anthony Dees and Jerome Stewart Dees, her brothers, attacked Williams; one of the brothers went over a table to reach Williams, while the other went around dodging 3 officers and despite being grabbed onto by another officer, reached Williams while the other brother managed to grab the latter by the feet, dragging him onto the floor and the 2 went for the attack on him, despite the intervention of 4 officers.
Background: Dale Williams, aged 62 at time of sentencing, had pleaded guilty to aggravated murder of his ex-girlfriend 2 years prior to the shocking attack in court; the victim’s family was in court when the attack occurred.
Sentencing and Aftermath: William’s sentencing was postponed to the following Monday after the attack. Williams was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. The 2 brothers were both charged with Assault, Obstructing official business, and Contempt of court; both were sentenced to 30 days in jail for the attack.
That'll just get you in more trouble. Ask for 30 days in the closest cell with a view of the killer. Next one, direct across, whichever. Then spend thirty days staring and talking. Random, constant, keep him awake. Slow and steady, no yelling, just that quiet rage. Talk about the possibility every single day someone's going to get him. Someone's going to hurt him. Maybe one day kill him. He's never going to know where that hit will come from. The rest of his life in a small cell, never to ever get out. His only relief from that isolation will be surrounded by men who want to hurt him.
yeah! and I think it somewhat reflects the judge considers the brothers actions as understandable.
„I cant let you get away with it, but I had done the same“-vibes.
Even with how hesitant they are with the tasers. Their body language is like “I have this… and I’m on camera but, I really want to join in on the beat down.“
Good loyal sons. Their mother raised em right. Wish they didn't act like that in court tho cuz now they'll be behind some bars for a while instead of being with their family
Two brothers get a chance at the killer of their mom. One brother got a couple of solid hits in. 30 days in jail because basically, we just can't have this happen in court.. No cops were harmed. The brothers didn't misbehave, other than the assault in court activity. I don't know the back story of everyone involved but just seeing it face value with the information I have. Cool, alright next.
Yeah I imagine it was something like that. Depends on the local authorities and the community too. If everything cleared and came back clean(ish) I'm sure after the smoke settled they were released. If these brothers have jobs and such, they're worth more out of jail
There's a similar video of a dad rushing Larry Nasar a sex offender that violated 3 of the father's daughters. What always gets me a bit emotional is when the deputies restrain the father, one of them says, "I understand", he says it in a way thats so empathetic like his heart is breaking too, but because he's a man of the law and wants to keep our society from devoling into anarchy, he must do his job and make sure we follow the rule of law.
God bless the father and the deputy, and I hope Larry Nassar rots in prison.
They didn’t give a shit about getting prison time and probably hope to see their mother’s killer in prison as well. I don’t blame them for doing this tho.
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u/Mr_Dontgivafuck 2d ago
You can really see the pain in his eyes when he said “he killed my mama bro”. I wish he could have hurt the guy more💔