Man pleads guilty to rush hour murder

May 23, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Dale Williams faces a sentence of 23 years to life after he pleaded guilty to murdering Elizabeth Stewart, 46, of Boardman, in 2017.

Williams, 61, made the plea to a charge of aggravated murder with a firearm specification in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before Judge Maureen Sweeney Wednesday. Sentencing will be at a later date.

Williams has been in the Mahoning County jail since shortly after he was arrested for the murder of Stewart, 46, of Boardman, was shot and killed June 15, 2017, just before 8 a.m. on Market Street as she was driving to work.

Police said Williams rammed a car Stewart was driving from behind repeatedly as she was driving to work until he pushed it into a building near Hylda Avenue. Williams then got out of his car and shot her several times, police said. A city police officer who was on the scene arrested Williams at gunpoint.

Police said the two had a prior relationship.

Williams said nothing in court, except to answer yes or no questions from Judge Sweeney while she was going over his plea with him.

Less than 12 hours before her death, Stewart drove to the Boardman police station and made a report about threats Williams made against her, including one where he threatened “to get her in the streets.”

Investigators said Williams confessed to detectives and said he knew her route to work and was waiting for her.

Video shows that Williams waited for 48 minutes nearby before he saw Stewart’s car, and he weaved in and out of traffic before ramming it off the road and killing her. Stewart begged for her life before she was killed, police said.

Two mental-health evaluations found that Williams was competent to stand trial.