Crime
Dakota Sebring Seeks Justice After Surviving Severe Domestic Violence By Ex-Boyfriend Dalton Ridgeway-Williams
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A Springfield woman is fighting for accountability after surviving a brutal domestic assault that nearly claimed her life.
Dakota Sebring, who turned 24 in March 2025, says her birthday became a night of terror when she was violently attacked by her ex-boyfriend of five years, Dalton Ridgeway-Williams.
Sebring reports that the assault lasted more than an hour and involved repeated strangulation, beatings, and psychological intimidation — violence she believed she would not survive.
Although she escaped and filed a police report, she says Dalton has since violated the resulting order of protection 19 times while on pretrial release, yet has served only about 60 days in jail.
Sebring states she now lives in fear, taking every possible measure to ensure her safety, yet increasingly frustrated that “a piece of paper” cannot stop someone determined to disregard the law.
Sebring had spent her birthday evening out with friends when Dalton allegedly appeared at several of the same establishments, grabbing her and issuing verbal threats.
After multiple encounters — behavior that she describes as consistent with the cycle of abuse — she eventually agreed to meet him at his residence, hoping to de-escalate the situation through conversation.
According to Sebring, Dalton began recording her upon entry, accusing her of breaking into his home but refusing to call law enforcement.
What followed, she says, was a prolonged and violent assault.
She reports being:
- Beaten and dragged inside and outside the home
- Strangled multiple times, to the point of near unconsciousness
- Humiliated, threatened, and restrained
She ultimately escaped long enough to call 911.
Dalton fled before officers arrived and turned himself in approximately two weeks later.
He was charged with aggravated domestic battery, domestic battery, and unlawful restraint, though the restraint charge was later dismissed.
Despite the severity of the case, Sebring says Dalton repeatedly violated the court-issued protection order.
Documentation includes allegations that he:
- Contacted her directly
- Used his mother as an intermediary to reach her
- Illegally accessed her financial accounts and her vehicle
- Posted threatening and harassing messages on Facebook
— including telling her to “find a safe place to spend Thanksgiving”
Each violation, according to Sebring, resulted in minimal sanctions — often just hours or days in custody.
Sebring has been granted a two-year order of protection, but she reports that Dalton continues to post about her online, a direct violation of the court’s directives.
His upcoming court hearings largely pertain to his unrelated Class X felony drug case, and Sebring fears that her domestic violence case may simply become a bargaining chip in a plea agreement rather than a priority deserving full prosecution.
She questions why a life-threatening assault is treated as less serious than the drug charges and why repeated violations of protective orders do not carry stronger consequences.
Sebring has submitted extensive evidence — including video recordings, text messages, photographs, surveillance footage, and police documentation — and hopes the justice system will finally intervene meaningfully.
She emphasizes that she remains at risk so long as Dalton continues to face minimal repercussions.
Despite the trauma she endured, Sebring recently completed nursing school and is preparing to graduate, determined to move forward with her life.
In addition to the alleged violations of the protection order, Dalton has a prior criminal history.
In 2024, he was arrested after authorities reportedly found:
- 23 pounds of marijuana
- Three firearms
- Three pounds of THC wax
- $44,477 in cash
He was charged with being an armed habitual criminal, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, delivery of more than 5,000 grams of marijuana, and armed violence.
Crime
MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro Shooting Suspect Identified as 48-Year-Old Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente
Authorities have identified the suspect connected to both the Brown University mass shooting in Rhode Island and the fatal shooting of MIT professor Dr. Nuno F. G. Loureiro in Massachusetts as Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, according to law enforcement sources.
Investigators say Neves-Valente was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside an Extra Space Storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, effectively ending a multistate manhunt.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that Neves-Valente was not a U.S. citizen, but a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
His last known address was in Miami, Florida. Police have stated that he took his own life, and the manner of death is being investigated in coordination with the medical examiner.
Sources familiar with the investigation say Neves-Valente had a storage unit registered in his name at the Salem facility, the same location where an abandoned vehicle linked to the case was previously discovered.
Surveillance video reportedly shows him entering the storage complex; however, investigators initially could not confirm whether he exited prior to being found deceased. Authorities have said agents had not entered the unit earlier in the operation as the scene remained part of an active investigation.
Investigators also revealed that the suspect used multiple sets of license plates on the same vehicle, a tactic authorities believe was intended to evade detection.
A witness-provided license plate in the Brown University shooting led investigators to trace the vehicle’s ownership and usage history, which ultimately connected it to the Brookline, Massachusetts homicide of Dr. Loureiro.
The vehicle was later located in Salem after a license plate reader flagged one of the associated plates, prompting a significant law enforcement response involving federal, state, and local agencies near the Salem, New Hampshire–Methuen, Massachusetts border.
During the search, Methuen police issued public alerts asking residents to report individuals who appeared out of place or were behaving suspiciously, while emphasizing that there was no ongoing threat to the general public.
Officials noted that the suspect appeared to have employed deliberate countermeasures, including changing plates across jurisdictions and attempting to avoid surveillance cameras and facial recognition systems.
Law enforcement sources further stated that Neves-Valente was originally from Portugal, the same country as Dr. Loureiro. Investigators are examining whether there is any significance to that shared background.
It is believed, though not yet publicly confirmed by authorities, that both men may have attended the same school in Lisbon earlier in their lives.
Additionally, Brown University officials have confirmed that Neves-Valente was previously a Brown student, attending the university from 2000 to 2001.
Records indicate he was enrolled exclusively in physics courses during that time.
The university believes he may have had classes in the same building where the shooting later occurred, though officials have stressed that this information is part of a broader factual review and not indicative of motive.
The Brown University shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, when a masked gunman dressed in black entered a lecture hall in the Barus and Holley Science Building and opened fire on students attending a final exam review session.
Two students were killed—MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18, of Virginia, and Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from Alabama. Nine others were wounded, with six remaining hospitalized in stable condition at the time of the last update.
The attack triggered a massive response involving approximately 400 law enforcement officers, who conducted extensive searches of campus buildings and surrounding neighborhoods.
Although a 24-year-old man was briefly detained as a person of interest, forensic testing later cleared him, and he was released.
Separately, authorities in Brookline, Massachusetts, responded Monday night to the home of Dr. Loureiro, an MIT professor, who had been shot and later died from his injuries early Tuesday morning.
While officials initially stated there appeared to be no connection between the two cases, subsequent investigation revealed that both incidents were linked to the same suspect and vehicle.
The FBI, along with state and local agencies, continues to review evidence, digital records, and the suspect’s movements in the days leading up to both attacks.
Officials have emphasized that while the suspect is deceased, the investigation remains active as authorities work to establish motive, timeline, and any additional relevant connections.