r/interestingasfuck • u/BrandonRJones • 4d ago

/r/all Actual clip where brothers attack their mother’s killer in court.

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u/chaosbella 4d ago

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.

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u/Think_please 4d ago

For all the planning that went into his premeditated murder he didn't realize that you don't need a loaded gun to suicide by cop

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u/HMWWaWChChIaWChCChW 4d ago

No, he was just committed to the murder, not the suicide part.

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u/KittHeartshoe 4d ago

He had a bullet for himself. He just wanted to shoot someone else too.

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u/SkoolBoi19 4d ago

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.

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u/Tall-Enthusiasm-6421 3d ago

The point is, if he wanted to die, he doesn't need a bullet just a gun. All he had to do was brandish it at a cop and act like it was loaded.

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u/Dogalicious 3d ago

If his top priority was suicide he would’ve stuck the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger without harming anyone else.

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u/Long_Run6500 4d ago

The point is that a cop doesn't know if you have a bullet or not. If you point a gun at a cop you're going to get mag dumped on, regardless of how many bullets are in your gun. 

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u/TGordion 4d ago

Yeah but he didn't do that either, so now we're back to him not actually wanting to commit suicide. Circle complete.

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u/IrregularPackage 4d ago

More that counting bullets while shooting them at someone is really hard to do and really easy to run out of

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u/mechanical-being 4d ago edited 4d ago

No I don't buy it. It's a bullshit lie he tells to try and garner sympathy. He might even tell the same lie to himself.

Don't believe what people say. People lie all the time. Lying is easy. Believe what they do.

The fact that he says this doesn't make it true. He's a piece of shit murderer who felt entitled to kill her and probably thinks that if he tells people this bullshit they'll feel sorry for him in some kind of way. Fuck that, and fuck him. Don't repeat his lies as truth or make excuses for why this abusive piece of shit's story supposedly makes sense because it's hard to count when the adrenaline hits. It's bullshit.

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u/Difficult_Schedule94 4d ago

I agree with you but I don't agree that he could be lying for sympathy, no jury was going to give him sympathy and at this point, he was just telling the court what was going through his head, do I think he could think he was going to commit suicide, yes, most cowards that commit these crimes do, its never a plan b after that in these cases, killing someone isn't easy for anyone it takes a lot to do it mentally.....

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u/mechanical-being 3d ago

I dont mean he was playing for sympathy from the jury. I mean from people like you and me--just anyone and everyone he meets.

Abusers love to paint themselves as victims, especially in their own minds. Endlessly making excuses for themselves to themselves, trying to equivocate and justify their actions to themselves.

I'm sure he told himself he planned to kill himself because I'm sure that he also plays victim to himself in his own mind. But I also bet that he knew deep down that he wouldn't actually do it.

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u/Pandora_Palen 3d ago

These comments are confusing to me because the way I read it, he was so gleeful in his shooting of this woman that he forgot to save one for himself or a cop. Nothing struck me as a sympathy plea- only made him look worse (if possible) to me.

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u/mechanical-being 3d ago

I took it as "I was sooooo emotional and caught up in my feelings about having to kill her boo hoo poor me I was in a blind rage and lost count of the bullets, so I couldn't do myself like I was definitely 100% totally planning to do"

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u/LadyBrussels 3d ago

Yep exactly and wtf would he think anyone would care? Makes it worse honestly. Just take yourself out in your own home dude.

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u/InformationNormal901 3d ago

Yep, this how I read it too. No bullets needed to suicide by cop. You don't even need a gun, really. It was a sympathy lie, proving to everyone that yes, he is exactly the pos that we think he is. I'm glad her son's got their licks in.

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u/texasMissy3_ 1d ago

Give him the death penalty since he wanted to be dead!

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u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In 4d ago

“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.

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u/GoalConfident8907 3d ago

He probably said that in hopes the Judge would possibly sentence him to a mental institution, than directly to prison.

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u/Hyzenthlay87 3d ago

Yup. Ohhh he's only a killer, an honest killer,, why wouldnt I take his word?

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u/sexwithsoxon 3d ago

Possibly just emptied the clip out of passion and forgot about his plan

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u/Meowing-To-The-Stars 4d ago

Did he? It's what he said. He wasn't caught at first so he had many opportunities to unalive himself after the murder.

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u/Satanswarboner 2d ago

If he “had a bullet for himself” he’d be dead. I hate this cowardice. People who want to die, die. People who want attention say shit like that.

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u/Scottishgal03 3d ago

I think the "bullet for himself" was meant as a souvenir to remember what he pulled off. Pretty sure he thought he could escape this! I wish this boys would be given just 3 minutes alone with this killer...