Dwight Darwin Maness, a 47-year-old white male, succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained 11 months earlier after being ambushed while en route to a domestic disturbance at a home in Holiday Hills. He and two other deputies had gone to the home in the 1300 block of Northeast Shore Drive after a friend of the subject's wife called to request a welfare check.
Deputy Maness was shot multiple times by Scott Peters, who was later convicted of attempted murder and is now serving a 135-year sentence. The multiple gunshot wounds left Deputy Maness unable to walk, and he endured a grueling year in rehab before dying suddenly of a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot traveled to his lung.
Despite his death being ruled a homicide, prosecutors chose not to try Peters for murder after consulting with Maness' widow, Sue Maness. This decision spared the family another trial, as Peters would likely die behind bars, given his lengthy sentence.
Deputy Maness was a 20-year United States Army Veteran, having served in the 101st Airborne Division and deployed to Desert Storm. He finished his career as an Airborne Ranger Instructor with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He also served with the McHenry County Sheriff's Department for nearly eight years.
Maness is survived by his wife, Susan, his son Nicholas, his step-children Lauren and Joshua, his parents Dwight E. and Katherine, his step-mother Pamela, his sister Deena, and his brothers Christopher, Joshua, and William. He was remembered as an exemplary soldier, deputy, and man, greatly missed by all who knew him.
