Overnight shutdown and strange Support Assistant message

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When you pulled the plug that caused the improper shutdown, so that's normal. Not a strange message at all. I would not worry about the Support Assistant. AFAIK, That does not make regular backups. It must have been caused by something.  Are you aware of Hibernation? That must have frozen the computer. It should have responded by pressing the power button. Next time the laptop freezes try pressing and holding down the power button until the computer completely shut off. That is safer than pulling the plug. Remember that pulling the plug on a laptop doesn't do anything if the battery still works. Pressing down the button overrides the battery. 

You should shutdown the computer at night. Leaving it on is not a good practice and wears the battery down. Is the battery dead? Or did it just die last night? Check it out. Batteries don't last as long as they used to. See-

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln128667/dell-laptop-battery-frequently-asked-questions?lang=en

There could be two possibilities behind the issue that you have described.

• If the computer was manually put into Sleep mode and it ends up being off when seen the next time, which could be due to an unexpected shutdown.
• Upon switching on the computer if it gives the “Resuming Windows” screen, it means the computer was actually in Hibernation.

Running diagnostics on the computer will rule out any hardware failure. Follow the bellow mentioned steps to perform diagnostics on the computer:

• Switch on the computer and tap F12 key at Dell log to enter the One-time Boot menu.
• Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight “Diagnostics” and press enter.

Reliability Monitor can be used to check if the computer had any unexpected shutdown. Follow the below mentioned steps to check the Reliability Monitor:

• Click “Start”, type “Reliability Monitor” and press enter.
• Once the “Reliability Monitor” screen to see if there were any unexpected shutdowns.

Please confirm if you manually put the computer to sleep or the system is left idle for it to get into sleep mode.

If you leave the computer idle for it to go to sleep, checking the “Power Options” will give an idea of the power setting. Please follow the below mentioned steps to check the power options:

• Click “Start”, type “Power Options” and press enter.
• In “Power Options” window, click “Change plan settings” for the power plan which is active.
• In the next window, click “Change advanced power settings”.
• Under the “Advanced settings” tab, click the plus sign next to “Sleep” to expand it (Refer to picture below).
   

   

• Click the plus sign next to “Sleep after”, it will show the time (in minutes) after which computer will go into sleep, if left idle.
• Click the plus sign next to “Hibernate after”, click “Setting”, type 0 in the box and click “Apply”. This will set “Hibernate after” to “Never”.
• Click the plus sign next to “USB settings”, click plus sign next to “USB selective suspend setting”.
• Click “Setting”, change it to “Disabled”, if it is enabled.
• Click the plus sign next to “Power buttons and lid”, click “Power button action”, click “Setting” and ensure its set to “Shutdown”.
• Click “Ok” to close the window.

Please post with the results.

I did not 'pull the plug'.  The battery is fully charged.  The laptop is always plugged in, and I leave it on to perform nightly backups.  It was NOT in hibernation.  My power settings don't allow the laptop to hibernate as long as there is power.  It was definitely powered off when I attempted to use it in the morning.  It would not power up until I unplugged and re-plugged the charging cable.  When I did that, the 'Charge' light blinked briefly (indicating the battery is fully charged if the light goes out) and then I was able to power up the laptop with the 'Power' button'.