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by JENN WOOD
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Stephen Federico remembers the moment the call came in — the one that would change his life forever.
His 22-year-old daughter, Logan Hailey Federico, had been shot and killed in a Columbia, South Carolina rental home. She wasn’t involved in anything dangerous. She wasn’t in the wrong place. She was simply visiting a friend for the weekend at a home near the University of South Carolina (USC) campus when police say 30-year-old Alexander Dickey broke in and fatally shot her.
Dickey was no stranger to law enforcement. His criminal history included more than 40 arrests, yet systemic failures in South Carolina’s justice system allowed him to avoid serious prison time — until it was too late.
Now, Logan’s father is calling for answers — and accountability.
“This was a preventable thing,” Federico said. “This wasn’t some guy that just went off the rails one night. This guy had a 10-year criminal history. The system failed. It failed Logan.”
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RELATED | SUSPECT IDENTIFIED IN COLUMBIA MURDER
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A TEACHER IN THE MAKING
Logan Hailey Federico was born to teach. A graduate of Cuthbertson High School in Waxhaw, N.C., she was a dedicated student and a natural mentor who planned to become an elementary school teacher. Friends remember her as a loyal Swiftie, fierce friend and a young woman who brought light and purpose into every room she entered.
Federico described his daughter as “all inspired” last summer when their next-door neighbors asked her to babysit full-time. That experience, he said, “triggered her passion for teaching.”
“She started really getting good in her schoolwork and going to community college with a goal to hit the College of Charleston to finish that degree,” he said. “She really wanted to impact kids at some point in her life.”
Federico said his daughter had a “soft spot” for USC and often visited friends there.
“She had a group of friends there that she would go see often,” he said.
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On May 3, 2025, Logan Federico’s light was violently extinguished. According to Columbia, S.C. police, Dickey broke into the Cypress Street home where Logan was staying and shot her in the chest during a burglary. Within 36 hours, he was in custody — caught in the middle of a crime spree that included credit card fraud, stolen vehicles and arson.
Federico praised law enforcement’s swift response.
“They caught him fast,” he said. “That’s not my issue. My issue is how he was on the street in the first place.”
That question — how a man with a violent, escalating criminal history could remain free — has led to serious scrutiny of the systems that are supposed to keep the public safe.
According to documents reviewed by FITSNews, Dickey’s criminal history was riddled with omissions. Many of his arrests were never properly entered into the state’s fingerprint-based records system, meaning prosecutors had no way of knowing he was a repeat offender. In one key case from 2014, Dickey was charged with burglary but sentenced as a first-time offender because prior convictions from other counties were missing from his South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) “CATCH” report.
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‘CATCH’ AND RELEASE
The SLED CATCH system — short for Citizen Access to Criminal Histories — is South Carolina’s official public portal for criminal records. It’s powered by fingerprint submissions from law enforcement agencies across the state and is intended to provide a complete and accurate “RAP” sheet (Record of Arrest and Prosecution) for individuals arrested or convicted of crimes.
But the system is only as accurate as the data it receives.
If a person is served a warrant while already in jail — as Dickey was on multiple occasions — new charges may never appear on their CATCH report unless they are rebooked (and their fingerprints retaken). When that doesn’t happen, those offenses simply vanish from the public record — and from the view of prosecutors and judges.
That’s exactly what happened in Dickey’s case.
“You’re telling me this guy’s out — with more than 40 arrests, multiple aliases and gun charges?” Federico said. “The paperwork doesn’t match up to the offenses. How are you not a repeat offender on paper?”
In 2014, Dickey was charged with burglary in Lexington County but sentenced as a first-time offender because prior convictions from other jurisdictions — including burglaries and thefts — were missing from his official RAP sheet. That sentencing decision became a pivotal moment. Without the repeat offender designation, Dickey avoided prison time and was placed on probation.
And the cycle continued.
Despite multiple arrests over the next decade, Dickey’s charges were frequently mislabeled, lost in inter-agency silos or never added to the record at all. By the time he broke into the Cypress Street home on May 3, 2025, Dickey’s RAP sheet still failed to reflect the full scope of his criminal conduct.
“They didn’t have it together until after my daughter was dead,” Federico said.
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ARMED WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE
For Federico, it wasn’t just the fingerprinting failures or missing records that cost his daughter her life — it was also the gun Dickey used to kill her.
“You can be a convicted felon, and you can walk around Columbia, South Carolina with a sawed-off shotgun,” he said. “How’s that possible?”
That firearm, according to investigators, wasn’t Dickey’s to begin with. It had been stolen — taken from a neighboring home just before the shooting.
“It wasn’t even his gun,” Federico said. “He broke into the house next door and took it. If it had just been locked up… maybe things would’ve been different.”
Though his focus has been on the justice system’s failures, Federico is also frustrated that a deadly weapon was left accessible to someone like Dickey.
“That gun should’ve been secured,” he said. “It should’ve never been available for him to grab in the first place.”
Federico isn’t pushing a political message — he’s calling for basic accountability: from courts, from law enforcement and from individuals.
“It’s not about left or right,” he said. “It’s about right and wrong. It’s about common sense.”
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‘THERE’S GOT TO BE ACCOUNTABILITY’
On the morning of Logan’s death, Stephen Federico was on the 17th hole of a golf course when his wife called. She had noticed something was wrong — Logan’s bank account was overdrawn and she wasn’t responding to texts.
Federico recalled the family’s nightly tradition.
“We had a thing where we would text each other, ‘Good night. We love you.’ … Very oddly didn’t hear back from her.”
Hours later, they learned Logan had been murdered.
Federico is now channeling his grief into action — urging lawmakers and justice system leaders to address the failures that allowed Dickey to remain free.
“There’s got to be accountability somewhere,” he said. “There has to be somebody that looks at this… to say, ‘what the hell are we doing?’”
He is especially focused on fixing the way fingerprint data is submitted and tracked between counties, and ensuring RAP sheets reflect a defendant’s full criminal history.
“The only way to stop this from happening again is to have a full picture,” Federico said. “If someone doesn’t do their job — if they don’t enter prints or fail to flag a repeat offense — people die. My daughter died.”
Federico said he refuses to let Logan’s legacy be defined by the man who killed her.
“She was blossoming as a 22-year-old,” he said. “She wanted to be a mother. A wife. A teacher. She was just getting started.”
“I can’t bring her back,” he added. “But if I can keep this from happening to one more family — then maybe there’s purpose in all this pain.”
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ALEXANDER DICKEY’S ORIGINAL SLED CATCH REPORT
(SLED)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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8 comments
I feel badly for Mr Federico and his loss. That grief has consumed him and is constantly with him is both obvious and understandable. I understand wanting to plug holes in a criminal justice system that you feel let you down. Hundreds, maybe more, before him have endeavored to plug these holes and fix a broken system in decades past and present, but still these tragedies occur. One such crusader that comes to mind is the late Ray Rossi, father of Bobbi Rossi, who was murdered in late 1984 in the Columbia area by vicious criminals. Mr Rossi founded CAVE (Citizens Against Violent Crime) and worked hard to see violent criminals remained behind bars, rather than being freed on parole and similar programs. Mr Rossi made some progress and got some things tightened up, but still these tragedies happen. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much these gaps in the system are tightened up, these tragedies will happen. We live in an imperfect world. As such, there will always be tragedies and bad people who slip through the cracks somehow to cause more. I understand wanting to make things better and to keep the next person from having to go through what he has gone through, but the fact is, you won’t stop all bad things from occurring. Try if you like. Like Ray Rossi, you may make improvement, but you will not stop all murders from happening. Such is the nature of our very imperfect world.
That grief has consumed Mr Federico starts to become apparent in his rants for laws to make people lock their guns up in their own homes. The guy who owned the shotgun who killed his daughter did nothing wrong or immoral. He had a gun in his home. A criminal forced entry and took it. This is not “irresponsible” of the gun’s owner. The gun’s owner was also the victim, of a burglary. Being a college student, he likely didn’t have hundreds of dollars in spare cash with which to buy a sturdy gun safe. This was an unfortunate situation and set of circumstances, and nothing more. I would categorize people who leave firearms in plain view and/or in unlocked vehicles as irresponsible. These types of gun thefts are highly common and predictable. Of course, South Carolina’s many Gun Free Zones created by our Legislature cause many gun thefts from automobiles to occur due to gun owners trying to comply with these unnececessary restrictions by leaving guns in their cars while they enter a Gun Free Zone. A gun in your locked home should not be a crime.
I grew up in a home with loaded guns where I could have laid hands on any of them. I was taught that I would have suffered a fate worse than death if I had done so without immediate permission from my parents or grand parents. It was never an issue. I was taught gun safety and responsibility, as well as shooting, since before starting 1st Grade. In middle or high school, on rare occasions I was home alone, I would have known where guns were if a burglar had tried to gain entry to our home. At 14, I had my own .38 revolver, kept loaded in my room.
If Mr Federico wants to play the blame game, why did he never teach his daughter how to use a gun in self defense and see to it that she had one? It might have given her a fighting chance against that criminal. No, we shouldn’t have to go around armed to survive, but as I pointed out earlier, we live in a very imperfect world. As this case sadly illustrates, it is filled with violent, evil, people. It always has been and until Jesus returns, it always will be. Whether or not a person chooses to be prepared to deal with these people if they encounter them, or to prepare their loved ones to deal with them, is a personal choice. I choose be prepared to deal with such people. While I have been fortunate to never have to fire a weapon at someone, I can think of a couple of occasions in my life where at a minimum, I would have been a robbery statistic, perhaps worse, had I not chosen to be armed.
I hope Mr Federico finds healing for himself and his family.
Okay Mr. Tough Guy – So you have a gun and know how to use it. Good for you, Buddy! And you suggested that if the father had taught his daughter to use a gun, she would have had a fighting chance. You know that makes you sound like a dumb redneck. I’m certainly not against gun ownership – I have a few of my own. But let’s face it, if a criminal accesses me when I’m asleep or when I’m not prepared, he’s probably going to win. As for the neighbor who left his gun unsecured, he should feel some responsibility here. He left a gun in full view in a college rental house! That is irresponsible! Would you do that?
My, my. Aren’t you just a smug little bundle of insights and insults? I am not a “tough guy”, just presenting an option to being a victim that few are exposed to or accept in this day and time. When wolves are populous, it is not a great time to be a sheep. So, choosing to be prepared for such an eventuality makes me sound like a dumb redneck? If so, I plead guilty as charged. I was unaware that being prepared and aware was a dumb redneck thing, but if you say so. I can be a heavy sleeper, but I guarantee that getting into my house will involve enough noise and commotion that I will be alert and awake long before someone makes it to my room. Ditto anywhere I should be staying, which will not likely include a house filled with people so drunk or whatever that they didn’t hear a shotgun discharged inside or know to lock their doors. I don’t know the neighbor, his friends, or room mates if any, so I cannot say exactly what I would or would not have done in his place. I do know that often, we are our own first responders. Anyone who believes that they are safe in their beds at night, or as they go about their business in public, because there are police in their town, is living under a delusion.
“When seconds count, police are minutes away.”
In the YouTube video of the interview with Mr Federico, he with help from the sob-sister reporter, hinted that if the suspect had found an AR-15 or similar and made his way toward the USC Campus, there would have been a mass shooting. I doubt it. The suspect was looking for stuff to steal. He wasn’t on a killing spree depite the fact that he did commit a tragic murder while on his burglary binge. I have noticed how FitsNews’ two sob-sister reporters love to keep the upset going and the tears flowing with these type articles. They love to keep light on irrational demands, theories, and accusations, made by distraught family members of deceased persons. This interview was no exception.
I completely agree with this grieving Father! Then again, my Son’s life was taken away from us because of someone with a rap sheet 2 miles long! Every time, no matter what he did he was released! I will have to go back and count how many to be sure now but it was way too many!
My Son knew how to shoot since he was young, grew up around guns and lived on the huntingclub. He had his gun on him or always did but it’s gone. ???? He also had his knives on him but when there are more than one or someone is being overpowered, there is nothing that can be done. Like I’ve always told my husband who is a detective, always treat every family as it’s your own when he started his new career after retirement. That ONE day it was us and now has been ever since. No one knows until you walk in these shoes which I wish on no one!
My heart goes out to her family and I am totally behind him on letting them out over and over HAS to end!
For the ones at home that had there’s stolen, we can’t control that because that’s their home and he could have gotten one off of the streets if his intentions were to find one Sadly.
Great job Jenn! The compassion you have for families going through these tragedies are above and beyond. We appreciate all you do!
We pray for Justice for this beautiful girl and Justice For Daniel Reed Smith. ???
All the way around, for decades the South Carolina system has always been full of incompetence. And there is plenty of open and even covered up evidence that it has.
It’s not just with the courts and prosecutors, either. Its not hearsay that it dove tails into places that are kept hidden from the public, too.
It is terribly sad this father lost his beloved daughter like this. But in part, the blame justifiably falls into the laps of state judges and solicitors, too. Do they really even care? They need to be removed from their jobs. Judicial and prosecutorial immunity is not absolute.
People like SC Citizen are part of the problem and not the solutions that for sure the people responsible 100% are the moronic law keepers that let this animal out on the street in the first place
She could not have used a gun since he attacked her while asleep in bed. He says gun should have been secured but that would not have helped either since he broke in & stole it next door. If not a gun it would have been a knife.
The only thing to do is stay far away from people like this & neighborhoods they are in. I guess that is tough near a university.
It is to bad that we cannot just eradicate people like this that are a burden on society. No telling how many crimes he committed that are not even on his record.
It sounds as if South Carolina “ solicitor“ has a lot of unprosecuted cases on his plate. So to get convictions, they offer plea deals just to get it out of the system. Defense attorneys who know ( donate) the solicitors are able to influence. As I’ve watched the “political goings on” in SC, I suppose that the issue is the “solicitor system” the good ol boy voted in by their peers. (I do not believe they pick the best for the job each time) The concern about “fingerprint cards” Is that every Police & Sheriff’s Department nowadays have the “automated fingerprint identification system” AFIS. So the “transmission” failure may be a internet connection issue? (Why wouldn’t the solicitors office have a file by name and date of birth for all their criminals who is/was prosecuted previously by their office? SID#. The case file sent should have had their arrest record attached. whether it is a fingerprint card or not whatever the failure of the system is, it’s one too many. “Soft on crime” politicians are cut from the same cloth. I hope that Mr. Federico will raise nine kinds of hell with the powers that be.
May there be more investigative reporting, an expose’ if you will, about the systems epic failure that allowed this career criminal to be on the street, to commit this devastating crime. Good luck fitsnews, we are pulling for you.